Bruises on My Heart
by Bl00dyShad0w
Summary: Lucy was thrown out of her home and into civilization to attend Fairy Tail High. Her scars from her abusive father draws unwanted attention. The constant worry of her maid, Virgo, haunts her mind. While attending school, she meets a boy who seems like the exact opposite of her. Out-going, fun, carefree... But, like Lucy, he harbors a dark past... AU
1. The Start

**What's better than writing a sad story for Christmas? **

**Aah...it's been a while since I wrote a messed up story. So with that in mind, this is rated M for a reason. And an AU!**

**I'm actually super excited to write this story, since half of the first chapter has been sitting in my computer all lonely and stuff for a year! I hope you guys will enjoy this as much as I will!**

* * *

><p>"Mommy!" cried a little girl excitedly as she raised her arms up to be picked up by the tall blonde woman.<p>

"Lucy," said the woman with a smile. "You're going to grow up to be a beautiful woman."

"Like you, mommy!"

"Yes," said her father as he stepped into the picture. "Just like your mother."

They were the picture perfect family. They had wealth, health, and happiness. Until everything started to get fuzzy when Layla was involved in a major car accident. She was rushed to the hospital right away. By the time her husband arrived, she was gone.

Jude cried out in agony.

Back at the mansion, Lucy was in the arms of the young pink haired maid, Virgo.

"What happened to my mommy? Why did daddy look so scared when he got that phone call?"

A tear rolled down Virgo's cheek as she fought back the sobs. She embraced the child.

Years passed. Lucy was still living in the mansion, but the problem was whenever her dad saw her, he would hurt her in some way. Lucy has suffered through the physical and emotional pain. She would cry herself to sleep every night, praying that when she'd wake up, she'd be in a better place.

Lucy was homeschooled by Virgo. She was a great teacher, but Lucy would notice her tense up whenever her father was around. Part was due to the fact that she knew what Jude was doing to his daughter, and the other part was something else.

One night, by chance, Lucy saw what was happening between them. Her father was abusing her sexually. He had her pinned to the floor, naked. Tears rolled down her cheek.

"Make one sound," said Jude as he tightened his grip on the young maid with one hand and pulled down his pants with the other, "and I will whip you."

Covering her mouth to keep from screaming, Lucy ran to her room, locked the door, slid down, buried her head into her knees, and started crying.

"Why did you have to leave, mom?" she choked out.

A few more years passed. Lucy was now a beautiful seventeen year old woman.

During one of her sessions with Virgo, her dad came into the room. Virgo diverted her eyes quickly. Jude glanced at her for a moment and then looked at his daughter who was slightly shaking in fear.

"Lucy, come to my study. I need to have a word with you," he said before turning and walking out.

Lucy and Virgo looked at each other worriedly. They didn't know what to expect.

Finally, Virgo took Lucy's hands and said, "It will be alright, Lucy. I'm still here."

The young blonde nodded and headed to her father's study.

"Yes, father?" she asked when she stood at the middle of the floor. She tried standing up straight and tried looking fearless, but she could feel her legs shaking underneath her frilly fuchsia dress.

"I'm sending you to Fairy Tail High."

The words didn't sink into her for a while, due to his straightforwardness. She felt very confused. Lucy's eyebrows knitted as she stared at her father who was staring out his big window. Looking anywhere else but at his only daughter.

"Fairy Tail…High?"

"It's a high school far away. I've already bought a house for you near there."

"I'm…leaving?"

"Yes. You need to learn how to live out in the world on your own."

Tears blurred Lucy's vision. She clenched her shaking fists and bit her trembling lip. She couldn't believe her own father was throwing her out into the world like that by herself. A world which she has never known.

At this point, rage was consuming her mind. She held herself back all those years because she felt bad for him. But now, after all he's done, she just couldn't take another minute of it.

"_Good!_" she shrieked, making her father turn to face her.

"Young ladies shouldn't raise their voice to their parent in such manner. You disappoint me, Lucy."

"You're just throwing me out so that you can have more time to _fuck_ Virgo, is that it? Why must you treat us like you have? Mom's gone! She's never coming back! I've accepted this _years_ ago, so why can't you?"

After a few moments of silence, Lucy finally realized what she has done and hung her head.

"I'm sorry," she said as her tears rolled down her cheeks and dropped onto the red carpet, leaving a water mark.

She started trembling as she heard her father's footsteps coming towards her.

Back in the library, Virgo heard Lucy scream, glass shattering, and then a thud. Virgo sobbed as she hugged herself tightly. She has always wanted to run away with Lucy ever since her father became abusive, but since he was wealthy, she figured he would just hire professionals to bring them back. Or maybe even kill them.

After what seemed to be hours, the screaming finally stopped.

Lucy boarded the midnight train in her casual attire. Her things would be sent to her later in the morning by Virgo. When she sat down on one of the padded chairs, she sighed in relief. She was finally free, though she couldn't help but worry about Virgo.

She rubbed her now bandaged arm. When her dad attacked her, she accidentally knocked a vase over and fell on the shattered pieces, causing her arm to be badly cut. To top it all off, her father still hit her. There were new bruises on her face and on her good arm. He made her swear that if anyone ever asks about the bruises or scars, she's say that she was a bad girl and got into a fight.

The few passengers on the train stared at her sadly.

Finally, the train whistle signaled that it was about to take off. She could see the mansion from where she was sitting. She felt the train move and she watched as the mansion she has lived in her whole life disappear from her eyes for the first time.

She woke up when she heard the train conductor shout, "Magnolia! We have arrived at the Magnolia station!"

Lucy got up and quickly got out the train. She looked around. The station was buzzing with life; something which she has never really seen before, save the occasional balls her father would host.

She took a piece of paper that Virgo gave her with her new address. Lucy sighed.

After getting lost multiple times, she finally arrived at her destination. It wasn't a mansion, but it was fairly big.

"At least he gave me a place to live," Lucy said to herself as she took out the house key.

When she got inside, she noticed that a lot of her things had already been moved into the spacious living room. Each room was fortunately furnished.

She went upstairs to find a bedroom since she had three to choose from. She picked the one that had the larger window.

Lucy collapsed on the white sheeted bed and sighed happily. "No more abuse!"

But then after a while, she started crying. She left Virgo alone with her monster of a father. Clenching the sheets she said, "I swear I'll get you out of there, Virgo."

Her cellphone rang. She grabbed it out of her pocket and looked at the caller I.D. It was from the mansion, which meant it was most likey from Virgo. She had to be careful when talking to her since she knew her dad monitored their calls.

"Virgo!" she cried out happily after she pressed the talk button.

"Lucy! How are you?"

"I just got here. How are you?"

Lucy heard Virgo sigh sadly on the other line. The blonde bit her lip to keep from saying anything that would make her father mad.

"There is money in your pink luggage and I shall be sending you more soon. You should use some to buy your school supplies."

"I don't want to go to school…"

"I know…But I'm sure you'll make a lot of friends! Maybe you'll even get a boyfriend!"

"Virgo…"

She heard her father say something to the pink haired maid that she couldn't quite decipher.

"I have to go," whispered Virgo sadly.

Before Lucy could have time to respond, Virgo hung up. Lucy listened to the nothingness before finally putting her phone down on the bed. She went downstairs to get her stuff and put things away.

Lucy went into the bathroom to look how bad her face was. It was still horrible to look at. She sighed heavily and tried her best to cover her face with her bangs so she could go out without getting weird looks. After deciding that it was no use, she put on a black cap, white jacket, grabbed her purse, and headed out to get some food from the nearest store.

Lucy knew how to cook, thanks to a certain pink haired maid. The blonde bought herself a variety of vegetables, meat, and of course a bunch of sweets and snacks.

The people in the store would look at her curiously since they haven't seen a girl like her before. Some guys tried to get a look at her face, but it was covered by her hair and hat.

"Hello there, miss," said a masculine voice behind her as Lucy put a gallon of milk in her cart.

Lucy turned around to face a largely built man with a nose ring like a cow's. He wore a white shirt and khaki shorts. The blonde raised a brow. "Yes?"

"You have a very sexy body!"

Ignoring him, Lucy pushed the cart forward, leaving the strange man standing there, scratching his head. She finished checking out and walked out of the store with multiple bags in each hand. Lucy was a lot stronger than she appeared to be, since Virgo would make her work out a bunch.

"That damn Natsu! Always thinking that he's better than me!" growled a man walking past Lucy. Beside him was a blue haired girl.

"Gajeel," she started, "Natsu is Natsu. End of explanation."

"That doesn't mean he had to steal my spot light in the talent show at the bar!" then the man with long, spiky black hair mumbled, "he's not that good at singing anyways."

"Neither are you," said the girl with blue hair as she placed her hands on her slender hips. "You guys weren't even allowed in the bar!"

The man, known as Gajeel, growled at her.

One of the bags Lucy was carrying ripped and its contents fell onto the ground. The blonde swore and gently let go of the other bags she was carrying onto the floor.

"Uh-oh!" said the blue haired girl. "Don't worry! I'll go in and grab you a new bag!" she ran into the store while Gajeel came up to Lucy.

"Yo, you okay? I'll help you when Levy comes back with the bag."

Lucy ignored him and continued to slowly pick up her groceries with her head down. She did not expect this.

"Hey, did you hear me?"

Gajeel was about to place his hand on her shoulder, but sensing this, Lucy flinched away on instinct. The man brought his hand back and stared at the girl beneath him in surprise.

Lucy looked up. His face was covered in piercings, but Gajeel was taken aback by Lucy's bruised face and held a look of surprise.

"I got the bag!" came Levy as she ran over to the two. Lucy quickly looked back down. Feeling the aura changed, Levy was about to ask what happened when Gajeel grabbed the bag out of his companion's hand. "Hey!" she cried and then pouted.

"Here," said Gajeel softly as he knelt down and started placing the stuff that fell out into the new bag. Lucy place what was in her hands inside as well. "I'll help you carry this stuff to your place if you want."

"N…No…No thanks…" Lucy felt strange talking with someone other than Virgo and her father. "I can handle it from here…"

"Alright…"

"U-Umm…" started Levy awkwardly as she watched the blonde woman stand up with her bags of groceries. "What is your name? I'm Levy, and this is Gajeel!"

Lucy turned and walked away, leaving Levy stunned. "Well! I never!"

"Lev," started Gajeel. She looked at him as he shook his head and walked away. "Wait up!" she called before running after him.

Lucy walked as quickly as she could without seeming too conspicuous. Her groceries hit her leg as she passed through the crowds. Finally, she reached home. After putting all the stuff away, she took out her phone from her pocket and saw that she had a missed call from the mansion. She quickly called back, but received no answer. Worried, she dialed once more.

"Virgo…" Lucy whispered as she clutched her phone tightly.

After hanging her new uniform up and putting her school supplies together, Lucy got the bath ready. She took the bandage off her deep cut from the vase, cleaned it, and then put a new bandage on before stepping into the hot water. She looked at the bruises and cuts on her arms and legs. Lucy let her bad arm hang off the edge of the bath.

"How the hell am I supposed to get Virgo out?" Lucy asked herself. She tried to think of different scenarios, but they all ended badly.

Lucy got out of the bath and changed into her nigh clothes. She didn't sleep that night.

The next morning, she took care of her hygiene and then put her uniform on. It included a white button up shirt with the school emblem stitched on the left breast, a pale blue skirt, dark blue below-the-knee socks, and black shoes.

Lucy tried to hide up the cuts and scars as best as she could by applying make-up on them, but it didn't work out so well. She thought up of lies to tell her classmates if they decided to ask what was wrong with her.

"I should act like a rebel that just got into a gang fight or something," she mumbled to herself as she fastened her shoes on.

Lucy grabbed her bag and left her home.

Noticing a small group of teenagers wearing the same uniform, Lucy followed closely. She clutched her bag tightly, afraid of what she would experience today since it was her first day at a public school. She wished that her mom was there to send her off.

She wished her mom never died.

_Why did she have to go?_ She thought to herself. _Why not me? _The same questions have been circling in her mind since the day she realized the tragedy that befell her parent.

Lucy stopped when she abruptly slammed into the back of one of the teenagers.

"_Woah, _what the hell?" came the silver-haired male. He turned to see Lucy jump back.

"S-Sorry!" she stammered as she quickly walked past him.

When Lucy was out of earshot, the male's female companion with pink hair asked, "Do you know her, Lyon? I don't think I've seen her around before. She seems pretty…sketchy."

"I haven't," replied Lyon as he kept staring at the girl's retreating figure. "But did you see the cuts on that one? I wonder if she got into a really bad fight. Maybe she was transferred here because she got kicked out of her old school."

"You're reading into things too much," said another male companion with spiky blue hair and bushy eyebrows.

"What do you think happened then, Yuka?" asked the female with pink hair.

"I don't want to assume, Sherry."

Lucy felt lost now that she didn't have the group of teenagers guiding her to the school. She searched the area for anyone else wearing the same uniform as her. After turning a corner, she spotted a male and a female in uniform. The two spotted Lucy.

It was Levy and Gajeel.

"_Fuck_," Lucy whispered under her breath. She was about to turn around and leave when Levy called out for her.

"Hey! Hey, please wait!"

Lucy stopped, but didn't turn around as the blue-haired girl ran up to her. "I know you! We met each other yesterday! I had no idea you were going to study at the same school as us!"

Lucy didn't say a word.

Gajeel's footsteps could be heard as he came closer. "You lost or somethin'?" he questioned.

"Yes," replied Lucy with her back still turned. "I just need directions so-"

"It's rude to have your back facing people who are talking to you," said Gajeel. "We already saw your cuts and bruises yesterday, so there is no point in hiding them now. We won't ask if you don't want us to."

"Gajeel!" scolded Levy as she smacked his arm, which had no effect on the large, muscular man.

"No, he's right," sighed Lucy as she turned around. "I'm sorry. Just…I just need directions."

"How about you follow us?" offered Levy with a smile.

Lucy couldn't help but stare. She felt her heart swell up as she looked at Levy's smiling face. The last person who has smiled at her since her mom passed away had been Virgo.

Levy's bright expression turned into worry as she noticed Lucy's eyes water. Her eyebrows knitted together, and she was about to ask if something was wrong when Gajeel nudged her with his elbow.

Regaining her composure Lucy asked, "So, where is school?"

She followed her two companions to a large, gothic-like building. The large, pointy black gates were pushed in, letting students flock inside. The school's emblem was carved on the center of the large building.

"Do you know what class you're going to be in?" asked Levy.

"I'm a second-year," responded Lucy as she kept her eyes glued on the large building. Her stomach turned in knots as she pictured her peers make fun of her and her scars.

"There are three different classes for second-years," said Gajeel. "Do you have the paper that told you what class you were in?"

"Um…" Lucy hiked her knee up as she dug through her bag to find the paper. She fished out the small sheet and handed it to Gajeel.

Levy stood on the tips of her toes to get a better look, but she gave up.

"Class 2-B," said Gajeel as he handed the paper back. "Same class that me and Levy are in. I don't know whether to feel sorry for you or not."

"Wh-What do you mean by that?"

Gajeel and Levy looked at each other and then back at Lucy. Levy scratched the back of her head and said, "Well…our classmates are a little…rowdy? Even Gajeel here gets crazy in the classroom some times."

"Hey," he snapped, crossing his arms. "That pink-haired idiot starts it."

There was a loud sound of bells chiming.

"Well, we'd better get to class before Gildarts throws a fit," said Gajeel as he started walking towards the gates.

"That's Mr. Clive to you!" called Levy. She jogged towards her male companion, but stopped and turned around to look at Lucy who had her head down, and was still in the same position as she was in earlier. Levy jogged back. "You know," she started with a smile. "I never got a chance to learn your name."

Lucy looked up into Levy's dark eyes. There was a kind of warmth that made Lucy trust her.

"Lucy," said the blonde as she looked at the school. "We need to go."

"I agree."

The two girls ran into the building together, passing Gajeel who held a look of annoyance. Levy showed Lucy to the east wing on the second floor, and they ran to the last classroom down the hall.

The two stayed by the door for a few moments to catch their breath. After looking each other in the eye, the two burst out into giggles.

"I'm so out of shape!" exclaimed the blue hair girl as she attempted to smooth out her wild locks.

"So am I!"

Lucy almost forgot what it felt like to giggle.

"Okay girls," started Gajeel as he stepped into view. "Get in the classroom before the bell rings."

"Yes, sir!" responded Levy with a salute, causing Gajeel to roll his eyes.

Upon walking into the room, Lucy realized that she had no idea where her seat was. There was no place where she could put her head down and cover it. She felt naked standing in a room full of strangers.

"Look who finally decided to show up!" exclaimed the man behind the desk, which led Lucy to believe that this was the teacher, Mr. Clive. He was a bit scruffy looking and didn't look like much of a teacher.

"Aw shut it, old man. The bell hasn't even rung yet," countered Gajeel. Lucy was surprised by his boldness.

"Who is this?" asked the teacher, ignoring his student's remark.

Lucy felt as if the whole class has stopped what they were doing to get a good look at her, which they were. They gazed at her bandage and wounds curiously.

Lucy couldn't find the words to speak, and Levy sensed that. "This is Lucy! She's new."

"I can see that," started Gildarts. "But what's up with the b-"

Gajeel shot him a look. "Just tell us where we sit."

The bell rang and everyone stayed silent as they looked at Lucy. Some people whispered to each other.

"Gajeel, you sit at the first desk in the second row. Levy, you sit at the fourth desk in the first row. And Lucy, you-"

The door behind the three teenagers slammed open, and they quickly jumped at the sound. A boy with pink hair rushed past them. His uniform and hair was unkempt and he wore a white scarf. "I tripped up the stair on my way here, Gildarts! Don't mark me late!"

The teacher's eye twitched. "Just get to your seat, Natsu. Fifth seat, last row."

Natsu made his way over to his desk, followed by Levy and Gajeel.

"Mr. Clive!" exclaimed Levy once she sat down and realized that Lucy never learned her seat. "You never told Lucy were she sits!"

Gildarts looked at Lucy. "Last seat, last row. Next to Natsu. Good luck."

Lucy looked up at her new neighbor. The pink-haired boy grinned widely and waved at her. Lucy didn't know whether to feel welcomed or worried.

She sat down at her seat which was right next to the window. After she placed her bag on the hook attached to the desk, Gildarts stood up to talk. He talked about which teachers would be circling their class, but Lucy quickly forgot their names.

After drowning out the sound of Gildarts' voice, Lucy focused her attention to the scenery past the window. She was gifted with the view of the school's Fairy Tail fountain, surrounded by lush, green plants. Colorful flowers bloomed everywhere, and Lucy wondered what it would take to get into this school if you weren't wealthy.

"_Lucy, right?_" whispered the male next to her.

The young blonde turned her head slightly to see Natsu leaning towards her a bit. She felt awkward.

"_My name is Natsu Dragneel,_" continued the boy. "_Where are you from?"_

Lucy was too afraid to respond, but luckily, Mr. Clive saved her. "Natsu!" he called. "Shut it!"

"I was only whispering!" whined Natsu as he sat back upright. "Give me a break, would ya? It's only the first day of school!"

"Which is exactly why I need to start training you now!" The teacher started gathering his things after seeing that his time was about up.

A black-haired male sitting a row in front of Lucy and Natsu scoffed. "He's just like a puppy."

"What was that, Gray?" challenged Natsu as he shot up from his chair. The sudden movement caused Lucy to flinch and inch closer to the wall.

"You heard me, flame-brain!" the boy known as Gray stood up as well and faced Natsu. His shirt was unbuttoned enough that you could see his abs.

"That is enough!" called Gildarts, slamming his palm onto the wooden teacher's desk. "Both of you are acting like puppies! Now sit down and wait for the next teacher! Or do I have to babysit you? And both of you need to fix your uniforms properly!"

The two boys glared at each other as they fixed their shirts. Natsu tucked it in his pants in while Gray buttoned up his, causing some girls in the room to pout.

After sitting down, the next teacher came in. You could smell him before you could see him. Lucy covered her nose as a wave of perfume hit her like a tidal wave. A short man with red hair came into view. He was wearing a white dress shirt, black pants, and shiny black shoes. Gildarts towered over him.

"I am ready to take over now, men!" exclaimed the stout man as he spun himself around a couple times.

"Good luck," said Gildarts as he started heading out.

"Thank you," said the shorter man. "I may need it, men!"

Gildarts stopped at the open doorway and gave the other teacher a side-ways glance. "I wasn't talking to you."

The other teacher gulped as if he feared Mr. Clive. After straightening himself, he cleared his throat and said, "Good-morning, men! For those of you who don't know me, my name is Ichiya Kotobuki! I will be your English teacher, men!"

Lucy stared at Ichiya in wonder, and questioned why he said "men" a lot. After slowly taking her hands away from her nose, Lucy let out a loud sneeze.

"Oh, men!" exclaimed Ichiya as he skipped towards Lucy with a rose in his hand. A rose which had appeared out of nowhere. When Ichiya got to Lucy's desk, he got down on one knee and presented the rose. "For you, the beautiful new student!"

"I wouldn't take that if I were you," commented Natsu. The rest of the students shook their head in agreement.

"Woah," started Ichiya once he noticed the cuts and bruises on Lucy. "What happened?"

The door slammed open, to Lucy's relief. A young woman with long red hair stood before them. Lucy looked at her in awe.

"Sorry I'm late," she started. Her voice was deep. "Student council business." Ezra started walking to the only available seat left, which was by Levy.

"Ezra, my honey!" exclaimed Ichiya as he took himself, and the rose that he offered Lucy, away. He floated to Ezra's desk, but when he got down on one knee to offer the rose, the young woman kicked him in the face.

"Don't make me go to the principal again, creep!" she growled, disgusted.

"_That's Erza," _Natus whispered to Lucy. "_She is a _monster."

A pencil hit him in the face. Lucy looked back over at Ezra to see her nose flared towards the pink-haired boy. "Come again?" she threatened.

After Ichiya regained consciousness, he became semi-serious about teaching. The English books came in and the students got up to get their copy.

Lucy knew how to speak English fluently since it was the first language that she learned, so she knew that she would pass the class easily.

Since it was the first day of school, class was shortened since they would have homeroom again at the end of the day. Teacher after teacher came and went, and Lucy's bag got heavier with books. Natsu kept trying to whisper to Lucy, but he was ignored.

Finally, Gildarts came back.

"So, how has your day been?" he asked. The class groaned in response.

Gray insulted Natsu in some way once again, which caused Natsu to pick up his desk and toss it. Gray, along with everyone around him, jumped out of the way. Gildarts yelled at them, and somehow, Gajeel got into the commotion and got up to punch Gray. Gildarts gave up on being civil and rolled up his sleeves before stomping into the battlefield. He grabbed the closest boys by the ears, which was Gray and Gajeel. He pulled the two out the door and threw them into the hallway. Then he looked at Natsu.

"Okay, okay!" Natsu said as he started walking to the door.

_What the hell just happened_, thought Lucy.

"Anyways," sighed Gildarts as he closed the door behind Natsu. The sound of fighting could be heard in the halls. "Let's discuss about school stuff."

Mr. Clive talked about the school rules, policies, schedules, and vacation days. He passed out a small pamphlet that stated what he already said. "The club fair is tomorrow and will go on for two days. Every single person needs to join one. The bell is going to ring in ten minutes, so I'll leave you all while I go talk to the boys in the hallway."

Levy got up and sat down in Natsu's empty seat. She smiled and said, "Today wasn't so bad. Usually it's so much worse."

"Natsu keeps bugging me," complained Lucy.

Levy laughed. "Yeah. Natsu bugs _everyone_."

"I'm sorry that you had to witness that," said Ezra as she walked up to the two girls. "But Levy is right. It usually is worse. But you learn to get used to it."

Ezra's hard expression that she had when she first came into the room was gone and softened into the big-sisterly type. Lucy gave her a small smile. "I sure hope so," she said.

"From what school did you come from?" asked the scarlet haired woman as she took a seat upon an unoccupied desk.

"I was actually home-schooled. This is my first time at a public school."

Knowing this, Erza's face turned into one of concern, but she immediately shook it off and asked, "Do you at least know anything about the clubs here?"

Lucy played with her finger nails. Talking like this to girls her own age was still weird to her. "I actually know nothing of this school."

"Lucy can join our club, cant she?" asked Levy.

"Of course," responded Erza, "but she should really get a look at all the other clubs before coming to a decision."

"Wh-What club are you guys in?" asked Lucy.

"It's simply called the Fairy Tail Guild. We don't do anything specific. It's sort of an excuse to hang out, but we usually help the student council set up festivities and such," responded Levy.

"Why?" questioned the blonde.

"Because I'm the president of the student council," commented Erza. "And most of the members of the club are…how should I put this nicely? Undisciplined. So I have them do work."

"Yeah, but it's so much fun!" started Levy. "The boys who were just kicked out are part of it. It would be so amazing if you could join, so if the other clubs don't interest you, you will be more than welcome to join us!"

Lucy nodded. She was disappointed that she _had_ to join a club, since she didn't want to converse with people that much. But Erza and Levy seemed really nice. She felt a pang in her heart when she thought of Virgo.

"Is something the matter, Lucy?" questioned Erza. She was about to lean forward to touch her, but upon further thought, she pulled back.

The bell rang, and Lucy was out of the classroom in an instant.

Erza turned to Levy with a worried expression coating her face.

"I don't know, Erza," said Levy with an equally worried expression.

"She said she was home-schooled…" said Erza silently.

Levy's eyes widened. "You couldn't mean…"

Erza sighed and looked towards the door. "I wish it weren't so, but it seems like it."

Upon quickly turning a corner on the first floor, Lucy once again slammed into someone. She was about to fall when Natsu quickly grabbed her shoulders.

Lucy's eyes widened in fear and, out of instinct, she shouted for him to let go and struggled to break free. Lucy slapped his face, which caused Natsu to let go of her out of surprise. Lucy fell onto the ground with a _thud_. Groups of students stopped and stared at the commotion.

"I-I'm sorry!" he stammered as he was about to help her up.

The blonde avoided his eyes and quickly scrambled herself up and then ran. Her arm throbbed. She was pretty sure that the wound re-opened and would take even longer to heal.

Once Lucy got home, she quickly changed the bandage. After that was done, she reached into the pocket in her skirt to grab her phone to call Virgo. The was nothing there but a handkerchief. She went over to her bag and dug through it, and out of frustration, dumped all the contents onto the bed and the floor.

"No…No!" she cried as she sorted through her things for the third time. "_Where is it?_"

She froze.

_I must have dropped it when I ran into Natsu,_ she thought.

* * *

><p><strong>Oh my God it's finally posted! Hope this was an okay start. I'm still debating the length I want to make this...but I guess it depends how much my readers like it! Please review and follow! <strong>

**Byyye!**

**~Bl00dyshad0w**


	2. It's Alright to Let Others Help You

**Hello and welcome back! **

**Chapter twooooo!**

* * *

><p>Recap:<p>

"No…No!" she cried as she sorted through her things for the third time. "_Where is it?_"

She froze.

_I must have dropped it when I ran into Natsu,_ she thought.

* * *

><p>Lucy paced back and forth in her room. She never locked her phone because her dad forbade it, so Natsu could easily see the messages her dad sent her. None of them were pleasant.<p>

"If I go back, would he still be there?" she asked herself as she bit into her knuckle. She looked at her digital clock and saw that school got out only half an hour ago, and since he got in trouble, he could still possibly be there.

Taking in a deep breath, she left. Lucy ran to school, nearly falling on her way, but she was able to make it in one piece. She leaned against the wall to catch her breath and was about to go inside when she saw Natsu walking towards her with his hands in his pockets. He was looking down and did not notice Lucy in front of him.

"H-Hey!" stammered Lucy. Natsu stopped and looked up. "Do you happen to have my phone? I must have dropped it when I…when I bumped into you."

"Sorry," he replied once he got closer. Lucy felt her heart throb in guilt when she saw a nail mark on his cheek. "Want me to help you find it? It might still be there, or someone turned it in."

"I-It's fine. I've troubled you enough." Lucy was about to make her way past Natsu when he grabbed her good arm.

"It's alright to let others help you," he said quietly.

Lucy stared at him for a moment. She found it strange to see him with such a serious expression when he had a goofy smile on his face all day and was bugging her.

"Thank you…" Lucy finally said which led Natsu to let go. The two went their separate directions.

"Where did I drop it?" Lucy asked herself as she scanned the area where she fell. She got down on her knees and scanned even further.

"Are you looking for this?" A male voice was heard behind her.

Lucy turned her head to see Gray standing above her with her phone in his hand.

"Y-Yeah, that's mine," said Lucy as she stood up and dusted off her skirt. She took her phone back and held it close to her heart. "Thank you."

"It's just a phone," commented Gray as he stuffed both hands into his pockets. "Does it really mean that much to you?"

"When it's the only way to communicate with someone that you love," whispered Lucy as her eyes casted downward. "Yes."

Gray stared hard at her. "What school were you in before?" he asked.

"Um…I was home-schooled," responded Lucy.

"If it isn't Gray," said another male voice. Lucy leaned to the side a bit to see who was coming. It was the guy who she bumped into while coming to school, and she noticed that he was an upperclassman.

"Lyon," mumbled Gray as he gritted his teeth.

"Oh," said the white haired male once he noticed Lucy. "It's you. You guys getting into a fight or something?"

"What are you talking about?" asked Gray once he turned around to get a good look at the upper classman.

"I heard that she is in a gang," responded Lyon as he crossed his arms. "I mean…look at all those scars."

Lucy looked down once again. She felt uncomfortable now that the two boys were looking at her skin closely.

"Leave her alone, Lyon," growled Gray. "She isn't doing any harm. Mind your own business, would ya?"

"Alright, alright," said Lyon as he held his hands up in mock surrender. "Whatever."

Once he was gone, Gray turned to Lucy. "Sorry about that," he mumbled. "That idiot is unfortunately my cousin."

Lucy rubbed her arms after a few moments of uncomfortable silence. She looked around nervously and was about to talk when Gray cut in first.

"I know you must find this weird since you were home-school. I was home-schooled for a while too, so I kind of understand. You must want to get home to call your loved-one. I'll leave you to it." Gray turned around and started walking away.

"Th-Thank you!" said Lucy, louder than she intended to.

Gray kept walking but gave her a backhand wave.

Lucy couldn't help but think about what Natsu said earlier. _It's alright to let others help you. _She wished it were that easy to ask for help. If so, she would have asked for help years ago.

Running back home, she couldn't help but smile a bit. The day went far better than she though. During lunch, when Levy noticed that Lucy forgot to pack something, the blue-haired girl encouraged her to take whatever she wanted from her lunchbox.

After locking the door, Lucy rushed upstairs as she called the mansion. After a few rings, Virgo picked up.

"Lucy?" came Virgo's anxious voice. "Is that you?"

"Yes! I'm so sorry I wasn't able to contact you sooner. I lost my phone and I just got it back. How are you? Are you…okay?"

"I'm fine!"

Lucy instantly knew that the excitement in her voice was fake. She wouldn't be fine alone in a large mansion with Jude. Lucy frowned. She could already see the smile on Virgo's face, holding back everything she wants to say but can't.

"More importantly," continued Virgo. "How was your first day of school?"

"It was better than I expected. I thought people were going to make fun of me and judge me, but they didn't. At least not to my face, since apparently there is now a rumor going around that I am in a gang."

"My sweet little Lucy in a _gang?_ Where do these kids come up with these sort of stuff?"

"Virgo…I'm kind of covered in scars and bruises."

There was a long moment of silence as they both took those words in.

"Is…the cut from the vase okay? You're changing the bandage when you need to, right? It should be healing soon," said Virgo.

"I accidentally re-opened it today when I fell down. Sorry."

"What are you sorry for? As long as you're treating it right. I don't want to hear you calling and saying that you got an infection! I would have to send a medic team. And speaking of sending, how are you with money?"

"I've only spent it on a few schools supplies and groceries. I have plenty left."

In the background, Lucy could hear her father say, "It's time, Virgo! Who are you talking to? Are you talking to that girl again? Hang up!"

Lucy bit her lip. She didn't want Virgo to go. She wanted to reach into the phone and pull Virgo to her.

"Lucy…" whispered Virgo sadly. "I've got to go…"

"Alright, Virgo. Goodbye…"

Virgo quickly hung up, and Lucy couldn't help but think of all the terrible things her father was going to do to the innocent maid.

Lucy dug through a box of her mom's old things that Virgo secretly shipped to her. It was hiding in the young blonde's room for the most part, but she never found the courage to open it and look through the contents.

Lucy pulled out Layla's jewelry box, hairbrush with some blonde hair still stuck to it, a mirror, and a photo album.

Lucy cried harder each time she flipped through the album. There were pictures of her before she met Jude, when they got married, and when Lucy was a baby. The last picture there was a picture of Layla and Jude kissing in the garden. A quarter of the album was blank, and Lucy knew that if her mom was still alive, they would have gone through at least five more books.

Lucy was about to put the stuff back when she noticed brightly colored wrapping paper hidden underneath the folds of her mom's old clothes. She gently picked it up and realized it was a birthday present.

On the card attached to the ribbon read:

_My dear, sweet little Lucy. You are growing more beautiful as each day passes, and it is an honor for me to witness such a thing. I wish for you to find something very important to you in the years to come, for I have you._

_I will love you forever,_

_Mommy_

_That's right…_ thought Lucy as her tears blurred her vision once again. _She died right before my birthday…_

With shaky hands, Lucy ripped off the neatly taped wrapping and tossed it beside her. In her hand was a black book with no title. Inside, on the front cover, was another message.

_This book is blank for a reason. Write to your heart's content, my darling Lucy._

_-Daddy_

Lucy nearly laughed. Her father was not the same as he was a decade ago. Not in the slightest. What was his wife thinking about him now?

Flipping through the pages, Lucy confirmed that it was, indeed, blank. After putting her mom's things back in place and tossing the trash, Lucy took the blank book and placed it on the desk.

She began writing from the beginning.

She stopped when her hand was too cramped to continue. Looking at the time, Lucy realized that hours have gone by, and she was only half way done with what she wanted to tell. She quickly changed her bandage and jumped into the bath before getting her stuff ready for the next day at school.

A couple minutes after leaving her house, Lucy spotted Lyon and his friends again. Once her and the silver haired male made eye contact, she quickly took a different route.

"Geez, Lyon," started Yuka. "What the hell did you do?"

"I told you she was sketchy," said Sherry.

Lucy got lost once again. She tried to muster up the courage to ask for directions, but she couldn't find her voice. She stood in the center of a square as dozens of people rushed past her. A man in a business suit bumped into Lucy.

"Watch it, idiot!" he said before taking off again.

Lucy randomly picked a direction and quickly left. She stopped when she saw a sign that read: _Fairy Tail Student Apartments_

"Student apartments?" questioned Lucy. "What is this about?" She decided that she would follow the next student who came out. She hid behind the sign until someone stepped past the open doors.

Natsu.

Lucy pressed herself closer to the sign, hoping that she would become one with it and that Natsu, of all people, wouldn't notice her. When he was a good distance away, Lucy walked away from her hiding spot and followed the pink haired male.

She lost him in a large crowd. She looked all around her, but she kept getting bumped into. Lucy saw no where she could run and was about to cry when someone grabbed her hand and started pulling her.

"H-Hey!" she cried. She noticed that her captor had pink hair and was wearing a white scarf. "_Natsu?_"

Natsu turned his head to the side, looked at her, and then grinned. When they arrived at the front entrance to the school, the bells chimed.

"But…how did you know that I was following you?" asked Lucy once Natsu released her.

Natsu chuckled. "You didn't pick a very good hiding spot. You didn't know the way to school, right?"

"Y-Yeah…Sorry…You must think I'm creepy or something…"

"I don't think you're creepy at all." Natsu's face became serious once again. "Don't forget what I told you yesterday, okay?"

"Okay…"

"Anyways, we better get inside before we're late."

The two headed to class together and they barely made it on time.

"Lucy!" cried Levy upon seeing her. "I was so worried you got lost!"

Gildarts waited for the two to be seated before taking attendance. He then got up and reminded students about the club fair.

"_Hey Lucy," _whispered Natsu. Lucy turned her head to look at him. _"You should join the Fairy Tail Guild."_

Lucy looked at Gildarts who was busy answering questions. Turning back to her neighbor she said, "_I want to see the other clubs."_

Natsu _tsked_. "_The other clubs are lame!"_

Lucy rolled her eyes and looked out the window. She saw a blue cat with a white-tipped tail staring at her with dark, beady eyes. It was sitting on top of the fountain. Lucy's eyebrows knitted.

"_What the hell…_" she whispered.

"_What?_" questioned Natsu.

Lucy turned to him. "_There is a strange blue cat staring at me._"

Natsu's eyes widened. "_Does he have a white-tipped tail?_"

"_Yeah, why?"_

"_Shit._"

"Natsu! Lucy!" called Gildarts with his hands on his hips. "What the _hell_ are you two talking about over there?"

"Sir!" shouted Natsu as he shot up from his chair. "I have to use the bathroom!"

Gildarts sighed. "Go."

Natsu ran out, causing some student to laugh.

Lucy resumed looking at the cat. It didn't leave its spot, but it was scratching itself behind the ear. Natsu came into view and the cat quickly jumped off. Natsu stood next to the cat. Lucy couldn't hear a word he was saying, but she knew that he was scolding the animal.

The cat jumped on onto Natsu and he quickly stuffed the cat up his shirt and ran.

"Where the hell is Natsu?" questioned Gildarts when homeroom was almost over. "He should have been back a while ago! That sluffer! I'm going to mount his head on a stick!"

The door slammed open and Natsu, sweaty and exhausted, dragged himself into the room.

"You!" yelled Gildarts, pointing a finger at his student. "What were you doing?"

"I made a comment to Coach Taurus in the bathroom and he chased me around school," replied Natsu.

"Oh," started Gildarts as he put his hand down. "That was your own fault for commenting on his-"

Ichiya came into the classroom and pushed Natsu aside. He stopped, sniffed the pink haired teen, and doused him in perfume.

For the rest of the day, Lucy couldn't stop sneezing.

"Alright," said Mr. Conbolt, the math teacher. "That concludes today's lesson. Have fun at the club fair!"

There were some girls giggling and blushing as they watched the teacher leave the room. From what Lucy has heard, he was very popular with the ladies and even had a son in middle school.

Students poured out of the classroom.

"Natsu, Gray, Gajeel," started Erza as she stood up and picked up her things. "Go into the club room and start handing out fliers.

"Yes, mam!"

"What do you want me to do, boss?" questioned Levy as she stood up as well.

Erza turned sharply and her dark eyes shined. From her small bag, she pulled out a white and blue cheerleading outfit. With matching pompoms, of course.

"What's this for?" questioned Levy as she took the clothing from Erza.

"You're going to be our mascot, of course!" exclaimed the scarlet haired woman with a big smile.

As they argued about Levy's outfit, Lucy sneaked away unnoticed. She headed down to the courtyard where she hoped to find a club that didn't require socialization.

"Cooking club! Join the cooking club! We make delicious food!"

"Music club!"

"Art club!"

"Dance club!"

_There are a lot of clubs,_ thought Lucy. _None which sound appealing. _

She went back inside and bought some juice from the vending machine. "I really don't want to be here right now," she said to herself as she leaned against a corner. She watched other students having fun from a safe distance. Lucy wished she were just like them.

"Have a flier!"

Lucy jumped and dropped her juice at the voice. Next to her stood Natsu holding out a flier. The liquid from the half-empty bottle of juice spilled all over the floor, and Natsu let out a nervous chuckle.

Lucy started walking away. Annoyed.

"Hey, wait!" called Natsu as he caught up with her. "Have you seen the other clubs yet?"

"Sort of," mumbled Lucy.

"Well," started Natsu as he tried handing the flier to Lucy once again. "You have another day to decide."

The young blonde quickly took the paper and started walking faster.

Natsu stopped and smiled. "See ya!"

Grunting in irritation, Lucy stuffed the paper into her bag without glancing at it. After walking for some time, she passed by a group of girls who were staring at her.

"_That's her!" _started one girl with long brown hair. "_That's the one that gets into fights a lot!"_

"_I heard she was kicked out of her old school for hospitalizing someone!"_

"_Did you see that bruise under her eye?"_

Lucy's eye started to twitch. She turned around and glared at the group of girls who then ran away.

Turning around, Lucy bumped into someone. She raised her head and got a good look at Lyon.

"That bruise is getting better though," he said. "Although your ego is not."

"What do you care?" spat Lucy. Realizing she talked back, she closed her eyes and tensed up, waiting to be hit.

Lyon's eyebrows knitted together. "What the hell is wrong with you?" he questioned.

"What's wrong is that you're bugging her." Gray shoved Lyon out of the way, and beside him stood Gajeel. They both looked furious.

"Hey!" yelled Lyon, shoving his cousin back. "All I want is answers. It seems to me like all this girl wants is attention!"

Gajeel grabbed the silver haired teen and shoved him against the wall. Flocks of students started gathering around, curious and excited. Most of them pulled out their phone to capture the scene.

"Leave her alone," growled Gajeel. "Or deal with us."

"What is going on here?" a very short old man pushed through the crowd. He approached the two boys and put his hands on his hips.

Gajeel let Lyon go and grabbed one of the fliers he was carrying with his free hand. He shoved the paper against Lyon's chest and said, "just trying to promote a club."

"Hmph," grunted the man. Lucy wondered if he was a teacher. "Go on, kids! Fun's over! Nothing to see here!"

The crowd of students dispersed and went back to club-hunting.

"Lucy," started Gray as he walked up to the trembling girl. "It's alright. If you need any help, don't hesitate to ask."

"_Why does everyone keep saying that?_" cried Lucy. Tears formed in her eyes. She thought it was trivial to cry, but the encounter with Lyon brought back unwanted emotions.

The three boys and the old man watched as Lucy ran away.

"Can I please hit him now," growled Gajeel as he looked over at the elder.

"No! He deals with me. I'll have a talk with that girl tomorrow during class."

Lucy stayed in the bathroom and kept herself locked in a stall for over half an hour, silently sobbing. Through the intercom came a male voice that said, _"The club fair is over. Thank you for today. Please head home safely."_

Lucy waited for another twenty minutes before heading back home. As she was walking back, she spotted Natsu leaning against the black gate. He had his arms crossed as he looked up at the big fluffy clouds. Lucy's grip on her bag tightened as she got closer.

Natsu finally looked at her. "Hey," he said.

"Hi…" mumbled Lucy. "Why didn't you go home?

"I heard what happened to you from Gray."

"Please forget about that. I shouldn't have cried."

"It's okay to-."

"I'm going to go home."

Lucy walked past Natsu when he said, "I'll walk you there."

Lucy whirled around. "No! I mean…no…I'm fine, thank you." She continued walking when a thought came to mind. She walked back to Natsu and asked, "What was up with _you_ earlier, though."

Natsu's eyebrow rose. "What do you mean?"

"The cat."

"Oh…um… what cat?"

Lucy narrowed her eyes. Natsu laughed and said, "Alright. I'll tell you…but you have to agree to let me walk you home."

Lucy hesitated at the thought of Natsu knowing where she lived. She imagined him popping up randomly to bug her.

"Fine." Lucy walked away with Natsu happily on her tail. "Your explanation better be good."

Once they reached Lucy's street Natsu finally decided to talk. "You see…" he started as he scratched the back of his head. "He's my cat."

Lucy blinked, confused. "Okay…So? You have a cat. What's all the fuss about?"

"Animals are forbidden in the student apartments. And I mean _forbidden_. Once the land lady finds out that you have been keeping a pet, she throws both the pet, _and_ you out."

"Why?"

"She is set on the idea that every pet pees on everything."

They reached the front door to the house and Natsu whistled in amazement. "That's a nice house. Your parents' home?"

Lucy silently put the key into the keyhole and turned. She lost her words again.

"Oh…" whispered Natsu. "You mean…you live here all by yourself?"

Lucy quickly went inside. Before shutting the door she said, "Thanks for walking me home."

"_I'm such an idiot_," said Natsu to himself as he turned away from the door and started walking home.

Lucy quickly took out her phone and called the mansion. She needed to hear Virgo's voice. She needed to know that she was okay.

"Lucy," started Virgo. "Are you okay?"

Lucy blinked. _I haven't even said anything yet. How did she know that I am troubled?_

As if reading her mind the maid said, "Sorry. I just thought you might have lost your phone again."

"I'm not going to make the same mistake twice! But…How are you?"

"I'm doing…better. We still want to be careful with what we say, but your dad had to go on a business trip to Hawaii. He said he was going to be back in a week."

Lucy wanted to scream for Virgo to quickly pack her bags and take the next train, but she knew her dad wasn't stupid enough to leave Virgo unsupervised.

"Have you been eating well?" questioned the maid motherly.

"I have! I had a good cooking teacher!"

"Have you made any friends?"

_Friends_, Lucy thought. It's been only a couple days at school, and she felt like she's already become friends with Levy. She never thought she would have any friends.

"I…I guess so…" said Lucy finally. There was a long pause.

"Okay, Lucy. Tell me everything."

Lucy sighed and first talked about her encounter with Levy and Gajeel at the grocery store and how she saw them on her way to school. She talked about Natsu and his little fight with Gray in class. She talked about how Gray stood up for her against Lyon, and then again the next day.

"Natsu told me something that makes me want to cry every time I think about it," continued the young blonde. "He told me: It's alright to let others help you."

"It is, Lucy. I was never much of help when you were here, but your new friends have already stuck up for you. They don't know you, but I'm you're also their friend in their eyes."

Lucy smiled. "Yeah…I just hope I don't drive them off with my attitude."

"But what about this…Natsu, was it?"

"What about him?"

"He seems very interested in you, don't you think?"

"He's annoying, that's for sure."

Virgo laughed. "I'm sure he's just trying to make you smile. Well, I want to stay and talk, but there are a few things I need to take care of for your dad that is due soon."

"I don't want you to go."

"I love you, Lucy. Bye."

Virgo hung up. Lucy looked at here phone and sighed. She made herself some soup and then prepared the bath. She started thinking about the clubs again, and wished she could talk to Virgo more about it.

"I wonder if there is a book club?" she pondered to herself as she sank deeper into the hot water. "They don't require that much socialization, do they?"

The next day, Lucy got up really early to make herself some breakfast and lunch, and to avoid seeing Lyon. She saw Gajeel on her way.

"Yo," he said. "Why are you going to school so early?"

"Lunch," Lucy replied, pointing to her lunchbox. "And you? Where is Levy?"

She felt comforted talking to Gajeel. He may look threatening with all the piercings he had, which Lucy wondered why the school hasn't had him take them off, but she figured that he has a soft heart.

"I'm early because I got in trouble yesterday. The principal wants me to do my detention earlier."

"Is the principal the man who stopped the fight yesterday?"

"Yep. That's him. "Principal Dreyar."

"Are you and Levy together or something?"

Gajeel stopped walking to laugh. "What made you think that?"

"Well…you two seem really close…and I saw you guys walking to school together."

Gajeel continued walking. "We live close to each other. She lives in a house with her parents while I live in an apartment complex by myself. I'm going to be moving into the student apartments soon, though, because my boss keeps cutting my hours."

"Wh…Why don't you live with your parents? If you don't mind me asking, that is…"

The large man stayed silent for a while as he glued his eyes straight in front of him. Lucy put her head down, embarrassed that she even asked such a question when she can't even answer the same thing.

"They didn't want me," he finally said in a soft tone. "They gave me up when I was very little, and I was in the foster system. No one wanted to adopt me, so I began working hard to get my own place, and a chance to go to a nice school."

Lucy stared at Gajeel in amazement. He worked hard to get where he is, even though he didn't have a great start in life. She suddenly thought of him as a big brother and blushed.

"Do you mind if I ask the same question?"

Lucy bit her lip. "Well…I-I'm sorry, but I'm not ready to talk about it yet…"

"It's okay. We haven't known each other for very long so I guess you must feel weird about this."

Once they reached school, Gajeel headed to the third floor to go meet up with the principal. Lucy took a short tour around the school. She found the gymnasium where she saw a girl about her age dribbling a basketball.

Her hair was snow white and cropped like a boy's, and she was wearing a jersey and shorts. She looked professional as she bounced the ball between her legs. She tossed the basketball far from the net, but it made it in perfectly.

"Wow," Lucy commented, louder than she intended to.

The snow-haired girl gasped and quickly turned around.

_She's so cute,_ thought Lucy as she looked into the girls big blue eyes. Realizing she was staring, Lucy shook her head and said, "I-I'm sorry!" and took off.

"Wait!" called the other girl, but Lucy kept going.

Lucy leaned against a tree to catch her breath. She was on top of a hill overlooking the front entrance to the school. She could see that more and more students were piling in, and she caught a glimpse of Erza, Gray, and Natsu walking in together.

_They look really close_, said Lucy. Jealousy stirred up inside her. The bell rang. As she walked to class, Lucy kept her head down. Students whispered as she walked by.

Lucy didn't notice a small puddle of water in front of her and slid. She went flying for a second until her back and head made contact with the hard floor. Some students laughed, some just stared, none of them helped. Except one.

"It's not funny!" cried a female voice. Lucy could hear the sound of her footsteps coming towards her. "You should be ashamed for not helping her!"

"Geez, Lisanna," commented a male.

The girl known as Lisanna got down on her knees by the injured teen. "Oh no!" she cried. "Your mouth! We need to get you to Miss Vermillion right away!"

Lucy realized that Lisanna was the girl she saw at the gym. Upon hearing that there was something wrong with her mouth, Lucy figured that the liquid in her mouth wasn't saliva, but blood. She bit her tongue when she landed.

Lisanna helped Lucy up while the bells rang, signaling that class has started. Everyone around them was gone already.

"Anything else hurt?" questioned Lisanna as she put a hand around Lucy's shoulder and guided her to the nurse's office. Lucy didn't flinch.

"My head," Lucy choked out. She sounded a little funny with her tongue bleeding, and she had to spit to keep from drowning in her own blood.

"I'm so sorry about the other students. They shouldn't have just stood there."

"It's okay. No need to apologize."

Lisanna smiled brightly. "I really like you. What class are you in?"

"2-B"

"Oh! You're an upperclassman! I'm in class 1-C. My brother is your year but he is in class 2-A, and my sister is a third year in room 3-B!"

"You have…siblings?"

"Yeah, it's just us."

Lucy noticed Lisanna's pale face darken when she said, "just us." She figured there was more to it.

The two girls arrived at the front of a white door with a name tag that read, _Nurse Vermillion_. Lisanna knocked on the door a couple times. The doorknob jiggled and a small girl with long, wavy blonde hair and stunning green eyes opened the door. She was wearing white scrubs.

_She can't be the nurse…can she? _Questioned Lucy. _She looks like a little middle-schooler!_

"Uh-oh," said the girl as she looked at Lucy.

_Uh-oh indeed. The nurse is going to examine me and ask about my scars!_ Lucy tried to turn away, but Lisanna's grip was strong.

"Don't be afraid!" she chirped. "She'll make you all better!"

Lucy hesitantly followed Lisanna and Miss Vermillion into the cold room. Everything was pure white. The window was open halfway and the wind blew the white curtains.

"Let's hurry and rinse out that mouth," said the girl. Lucy followed her over to a sink.

Lucy spit blood, rinsed water in her mouth, and then spat again. Miss Vermillion got salt water ready for Lucy to gargle.

"You can head to class now, Lisanna," said the young nurse with a smile. "Thank you for bringing her."

Lisanna smiled and nodded. She patted Lucy on the back and said, "Lucy, right? I'll see you later, okay?"

Lucy nodded started gargling the salt water. She wanted to puke.

"Let me see," said the nurse as she stood on the tips of her toes. The young blonde opened her mouth and presented her tongue. "It's not too bad. Luckily wounds in the mouth heal fast, so you'll be fine once the bleeding stops."

Lucy continued gargling and spitting.

Once Lucy's tongue stopped bleeding, she asked the nurse, "How old are you?"

The nurse pouted and crossed her arms. "You shouldn't ask a woman her age! But if you must know…I'm twenty-four. I just look really young for my age."

"Yes you do."

"Would you mind if I changed your bandage as well?"

Lucy flinched. "No…It's fine, thanks…Miss Vermillion."

"Just call me Mavis."

The principal walked into the room.

"Makarov!" exclaimed Mavis. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to talk to Lucy, if that's okay."

"Well," started the young nurse as she looked back and forth between the two. "Her tongue stopped bleeding, so I guess it's alright."

"Come along then, Lucy," the principal waited at the door, but Lucy didn't budge. She knew where this was going. She knew where their talk would lead.

She preferred to jump out the window. So she did.

"Lucy!" exclaimed both Makarov and Mavis.

Lucy landed on destroyed flowers and soft soil. The nurse's office was on the first floor, so it was not much of a jump. She dropped her bag and ran home.

_What am I doing?_ She cried in her head as she passed the gates. _I'm just making things harder for myself!_ It was when she got home that Lucy realized that her house keys were in her bag. Cursing, she paced back and forth. She took out her phone and saw that it was almost dead. Passersby gave her a disapproving look.

_And today is when I have to pick out a club too. Fuck._

Lucy had no choice but to turn back. She felt like an idiot. She sneaked behind the school and landed in the garden. She looked around, confused. In front of her was the room she was supposed to be in. She crawled to the window and slowly poked her head up. Ichiya was just getting ready to leave.

Natsu noticed her. His eyebrows knitted together and his mouth hung open. "Lucy?" his mouth formed her name. Lucy put her finger to her mouth and slowly disappeared back into the bushes.

_Am I just going to wait here until school is over? Too bad my phone is almost dead._

About ten minutes later, Lucy heard rustling in the bushes. She braced herself for a lecture, but a certain pink haired male crawled into view.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

Lucy's eyes widened. "What are _you_ doing here?"

"I'm trying to find out what you're doing!"

"You didn't have to."

"I was getting bored!" Natsu grinned and crawled closer to Lucy. She scooted away. "So why are you here?"

"I…" started Lucy as she hugged her knees. "I jumped out a window. The principal wanted to talk to me."

Natsu stifled a laugh. "Well, that's one way to escape him. I don't blame you though. Why didn't you go home?"

"Well…I did, but I dropped my bag outside the nurse's office and my keys were in there. And my phone is almost dead, too. I had to come back because I still need to get into a club."

"So your plan was to wait here _all_ day?"

"Yes."

Natsu sighed.

"You don't need to wait with me," said Lucy.

"What's going on here?" Gray crawled into view.

"_Gray?!"_ cried Lucy. She covered her mouth and hoped that the teacher didn't hear her. After removing her hands she whispered, "_You too?_"

"Is this a stakeout?" he asked.

"No, we're just sluffing," responded Natsu.

"Okay. I'll sluff with you guys."

Lucy sighed and shook her head. "We're going to get caught. I just know it."

"If we stay here then we probably will," said Gray. "Let's go home and get changed and then get something to eat. I'm starving."

Lucy glared. "Why are you so casual about this?"

"Lucy dropped her bag that has her keys in it," said Natsu, leaning against the wall.

"Then what are we waiting for?" started the black haired teen. "Let's go get it!"

"What if someone got it already?" said Lucy.

"We'll see," responded Natsu as he started crawling away. Gray followed.

"This isn't going to work," mumbled Lucy as she crawled after them.

Her bag was in the same spot where she dropped it. Lucy grabbed it, but Mavis's head poked out the window.

"Lucy!" she exclaimed. "There you are! I was so worried! Wait…" she looked at the two boys standing near her. "Aren't you guys supposed to be in class?"

"Yeah," shrugged Gray.

Mavis stared hard for a few moments and then shrugged as well. "Have fun then. Don't get caught!"

The three students snuck to the street. Lucy's heart was racing as she looked back and forth for a teacher or a police officer.

"We'll meet you at the fountain in the town square," said Natsu before taking off with Gray.

Lucy stood there frozen in place as she watched the two boys disappear. _ Am I dreaming?_ She thought. _This can't be happening. _

Lucy ran home.

* * *

><p><strong>Thanks for reading! Please stay with me. This story is faaaaar from over.<strong>

**~Bl00dyshad0w**

(Any awesome artists willing to do an awesome picture for this story?)


	3. Connell Italian

**Welcome back to another chapter! I'm glad you decided to keep on reading! I'm sorry, but this chapter is short.**

* * *

><p><em>Recap:<em>

_"We'll meet you at the fountain in the town square," said Natsu before taking off with Gray._

_Lucy stood there frozen in place as she watched the two boys disappear. Am I dreaming? She thought. This can't be happening. _

_Lucy ran home._

* * *

><p>The young blonde raced past face after face. She felt excited. A feeling which she hasn't felt in a very long time. She knew skipping class was a bad thing to do, but she pushed that thought aside.<p>

Lucy got home safely and quickly changed into something casual. She hoped that she could pass as an adult. She changed her bandage and then slipped on a long-sleeved gray shirt and dark blue skinny jeans. After tying her shoes, she grabbed her purse and raced out.

_Wait,_ she thought, coming to a stop by the canal. _Where was the square again?_

Lucy took the route she went to when she escaped Lyon. She quickly spotted the large fountain and the two boys standing by it. Gray was wearing a tight black shirt and dark jeans while Natsu wore a loose white shirt with light blue jeans.

There were also a few girls standing next to them.

"Are you sure you don't want to hang with us?" pouted one of the girls who had big, poofy blonde hair. "We're going to do karaoke later!"

"We're sure," said Gray, scooting away from a cute girl with short brown hair.

"Who are you guys even waiting for?" asked a girl with long black hair. She stood close to Natsu.

Natsu looked up and spotted Lucy. The frown on his face turned into a large grin and he waved. "Lucy!" he exclaimed. The three girls quickly snapped their heads towards said person.

"What the hell…" mumbled the girl with brown hair.

"Sorry girls," said Gray as he started walking towards Lucy. "Our company is here. Have fun at karaoke."

Lucy stood still. Her confidence was gone and she felt self-conscious about herself once again.

"What do you feel like eating?" asked Natsu as he approached his female companion. "Gray and I are up for anything!"

"I…" started Lucy, looking at the ground. "I actually think I'm just going to go back home…"

"What?" questioned Natsu. "Lucy, forget about those girls, okay? There is nothing for you to worry about."

"_Nothing for me to worry about?_" growled Lucy as her hands balled into fists. She started shaking.

"Lucy," said Gray sternly. "He didn't mean to insult you, since we don't even know what's going on. But the least we can do is buy you some lunch. Okay?"

Lucy sighed, releasing all her anger. "Fine. But I'll buy my own lunch."

The two boys waited for Lucy to say what she felt like having. Lucy pondered over it and decided that she felt like having pasta.

"Oh!" exclaimed Natsu. "I work at an Italian restaurant! I can totally get us a discount!"

"Then what are we waiting for?" questioned Gray as he started walking away. "Let's go eat."

The three teenagers walked towards the food section of the square. They stood in front of a restaurant titled: _Connell Italian_

There were not many people, since it wasn't lunch time, and it barely opened.

"Wait!" exclaimed Lucy. She turned to Natsu. "If you work here, wouldn't your co-workers know that you're cutting class? We're going to get into trouble!"

"It's fine!" said Natsu as he swung his hands behind his head. "They're cool."

Inside the restaurant was dimly lit, and Italian music played softly through the building. There were many potted plants lying around, and plenty of paintings hung on the wall.

"Table for three," said Gray towards a young woman with black framed glasses and long black hair in a braid. She also had stunning blue eyes.

"Right this way!" she chirped. She saw Natsu and looked at him with a surprised expression. "_Natsu?_" she exclaimed. "Aren't you supposed to be at school?"

"_Sh!_" said Natsu, putting a finger to his lips.

A woman with long green hair came into view. She fashioned a cowboy hat with her black manager uniform. Looking at Natsu sternly she said, "Why are you cutting class?"

Natsu shrugged. "We just got hungry, Bisca. I just had to refer them to this place!"

Bisca sighed. "Fine, fine. Katelyn?" She turned to the young waitress. "Show these three to their seats please."

"Yes, mam!" the waitress brought along three menus as she directed her customers to a booth. "Here you are!"

Lucy sat on her own, and she was glad for that. But when Gray looked up and saw the seating arrangement, he quickly crawled under the table and took a seat by Lucy.

"_What the hell?_" exclaimed the young blonde, scooting away.

"That's what I want to know!" yelled Natsu, glaring at Gray.

"I didn't want to just leave her sitting all by herself," shrugged the raven haired man. "That just seems a bit rude. Besides. I'd rather not sit by you. You eat like a pig and you'll get food all over my clothes."

"_Hey!_"

"U-Um!" said Katelyn nervously. "Can I get you guys something to drink?" she passed out the menus.

"I'll have a cappuccino," said Lucy.

"Water," said Gray.

"Peppermint tea," said Natsu.

Katelyn wrote the order down on her pad. "Alright. I'll be right back!" she left.

Lucy looked over at Natsu and saw that he was still glaring at Gray. Gray looked cool and casual as he crossed his arms over his chest.

_This is getting really weird,_ thought Lucy.

After a few moments of silence, the waitress came back with their drinks. "The food is going to take a little while to prepare," she started as she placed the drinks in the right place. "So I apologize in advance for the wait!"

"It's no problem," said Gray before taking a sip of his water.

Katelyn smiled and left.

"So," started Gray as he opened his menu. "Let's see what they're serving here…"

"I already know what I want," said Natsu, not even bothering to open his menu.

Gray glanced over the top of his and sneered. "Of course you do. You fucking work here."

Lucy's eyes widened when she noticed a young girl with a cowboy hat standing by their table. Underneath her hat was a lop of dark brown hair gathered into pigtails. Her wide purple eyes shined with youth.

"Oh," said Natsu surprised once he spotted the young girl. "Asuka. Aren't you supposed to be in school?"

Lucy glared at him.

"No," said the young girl. "No school today. Your friends?" she looked over at Lucy and Gray and smiled as she held on tightly to her toy gun.

"Yo," said Gray with a smile. "I'm Gray. Nice to meet you."

Asuka looked at the young blonde expectantly. Lucy blinked.

"This is Lucy," covered Natsu. "She's new to the school I'm attending."

Lucy took a sip of her hot drink.

"So," started the child as she held her hands behind her back. "Are you both Lucy's boyfriend?"

Said woman turned to the side and spat her drink out in surprise. Gray, who had his legs crossed, bumped them onto the table and let out a hiss of pain. Natsu laughed.

Asuka looked confused.

"No no no no no no no!" said Lucy quickly as she wiped cappuccino off of her chin. "Nothing of the sort!"

The young girl pouted.

A young man with spikey black hair came over and shooed the girl away. He chuckled nervously as he faced the group of teenagers. "Sorry about that," he started. "She needs to learn how to stay put."

"Is she your daughter?" questioned Gray.

"Yeah!" chirped the man. "My wife is Bisca and I am Alzack. My daughter's name is Asuka. Bisca told me about your…situation with school."

"I don't know what you're talking about," said Natsu as he placed his hands behind his head and leaned back onto the cushioned seat. "We are just three adults getting something to eat."

Alzack shook his head. "I see."

Katelyn came back. Seeing her, Alzack said his goodbyes and went back into the kitchen. The waitress walked up to the table and asked, "Are you ready to order?"

"I haven't even looked at the menu yet," complained Lucy as she rested her head against the wall.

"Sh-Shall I give you a bit more time?"

Gray opened the menu and quickly pointed at something without looking at it. After his finger touched the plastic cover, he leaned his head in to get a better look. "Torte…Tort…Alla…" Gray struggled to pronounce the dish.

Lucy leaned over, saw where his finger was pointing at and said, "Tortellini Alla Panna."

Natsu looked at Lucy in surprise. "You know Italian?"

Lucy shook her head. "No. I've just cooked a lot of Italian dishes in the past, so I picked up some words here and there. Alla Panna means, _with cream._"

"I'll take it," said Gray, closing his menu.

Katelyn nodded her head and scribbled on her pad. She looked over at Natsu. "Your favorite?"

"Yes, please!" chirped Natsu.

"Cannelloni it is." The waitress scribbled on her pad more, and then looked up at Lucy who looked closely at the menu. "I can come back if you want…"

"No!" said Lucy, louder than she intended it to be. "I mean…um… I'll just take the Penne Chicken Alfredo!"

"Are you sure?" questioned Katelyn as she placed the ball of the black pen onto the paper.

"Yes."

"Alright…" After scribbling the order down, she took the menu from the group and left.

"Are you sure you're fine with your order?" asked Natsu worriedly.

"Y-Yeah…" Lucy started playing with her fingernails. Katelyn said the wait was going to be long, and she didn't know how she was going to hold up in the type of situation that she was in.

_I should just head to the bathroom to clear my head,_ she thought. Lucy excused herself to the bathroom, causing Gray to get up to let her pass.

When Lucy was out of sight, Natsu continued to glare at Gray. The dark haired male smirked.

"Still mad about the seating arrangement?" he asked.

"No!" yelled Natsu defensively.

After a few moments of silence, Gray sighed. "I wish I knew what was up with her," he started. "I just know that whatever it is, it's not good."

"She's not going to tell us anything," responded Natsu. "I mean, we've only known her for a few days."

"Do you think she will join our club today?"

"I don't know. She's determined to look at all the other clubs before deciding."

Natsu spotted Lucy walking back and sat up straight, pretending like he wasn't just talking about her. Gray got up and allowed Lucy to take her seat.

After a long while of pointless conversation and silence, their food finally showed up. The servings were large, and the aroma filled their nostrils and watered their mouths.

Katelyn quickly backed away, protecting herself from whatever Natsu was going to do.

"Finally!" he exclaimed. He dove in head first into his meal. Pieces of food flew everywhere.

Lucy was stunned. She looked at Gray, half-expecting him to do the same thing. He picked up his fork and ate like any other normal person would.

Lucy elegantly ate her food like she was taught to in the past, causing Gray and Natsu to raise an eyebrow.

"Hey!" she accused, looking at Natsu. "You out of all people have no right to look at me like that while I eat!"

"Where did you learn how to eat like that?" asked Gray.

_Virgo, _was what Lucy wanted to say, but she stayed quiet and took another bite of her food.

At the end of their meal, their waitress came back and brought the check. "You guys got a discount," said Katelyn with a smile. "Bisca also wanted me to tell you that you cutters got a cut? I didn't find it that funny, but I had to laugh with her because she's...scary."

"Thanks," said Natsu with a smile as he took the black checkbook and slid it towards himself.

"Aren't we cutting it?" asked Gray.

"Oh!" exclaimed the waitress. "I'm sorry! I didn't know you guys wanted to pay separately. I would have given you all a different bill!"

"No, it's fine!" said the pink haired male as he took a look at the grand total. He grimaced a bit, causing Lucy and Gray to feel a bit guilty.

"I'll pay," said Lucy as she held her hand out for the checkbook. "I was the one who said that I felt like having Italian."

"Can't you still split the bill now?" asked Gray, turning his head toward Katelyn.

The young waitress laughed nervously and said, "I wish I could, but our computers don't work that way…"

"I said I'll pay!" exclaimed Lucy, standing up a bit to lean across the table. She attempted to snatch the checkbook away from Natsu, but he quickly pulled it away.

"No!" he cried.

"What the hell is going on over here?" Asked Bisca. She walked over with Alzack next to her. When they approached the table, Bisca slammed her palm onto the table, causing Lucy to quickly sit back down. "You guys are causing a commotion!"

Alzack rubbed his wife's shoulders. "There now," he said nervously. "Yelling won't make the atmosphere any more peaceful."

"Th-They forgot to mention that they were going to pay separately," said Katelyn, shying away from her angry boss. "Now they are debating on who is going to pay…"

"Well," started Bisca, straightening herself up. "That's an easy fix. All of you can just pay up front right now!"

Katelyn cleared the table while the group emptied out their wallets. Natsu turned his leather wallet over on the table, allowing crumpled cash to fall out. Both Gray and Lucy had neatly organized money and pulled out their payment with ease.

Bisca took the money. "Thank you," she said. She looked at Natsu. "Don't forget that your shift starts at five."

Natsu saluted before Bisca, her husband, and Katelyn left. The group of teens got up shortly after.

"I'll head home now," said Lucy as her and the boys were outside one again. "I'll just wait until school is over and then I'll head back. Thank you both." Gray and Natsu watched as she quickly walked away.

Gray crossed his arms. "Good job, Natsu. Your eating habits creeped her out. Actually, scratch that. Your eating habits creep _everyone_ out."

Natsu was about to punch his companion in the face when they heard a noise next to them.

"Ahm!"

The two boys turned their heads to see Makarov staring at them sternly.

* * *

><p><strong>So it's nothing special, but uh-oh for Gray and Natsu!<strong>

**Naught children. Tsk Tsk.**

**Please continue along with me and this story if you like it :D And review! If willing! *Crickets chirp* **

**Until next time!**

**~Bl00dyshad0w**


	4. Fairy Tail

**I'm so sorry that's it's been a while! I've been...busy. I also found the notebook where I started outlining the chapters to this story long ago, and I found out that I originally wanted to name this story: Broken Souls**

**What do you guys think? Should I change it?**

* * *

><p><em>Recap:<em>

_Gray crossed his arms. "Good job, Natsu. Your eating habits creeped her out. Actually, scratch that. Your eating habits creep everyone out."_

_Natsu was about to punch his companion in the face when they heard a noise next to them._

_"Ahm!"_

_The two boys turned their heads to see Makarov staring at them sternly._

* * *

><p>When Lucy got home, she immediately fell face first into her couch. "I'm so full!" she whined. Looking at her phone, she saw that the battery had a percent left, so she jumped over the couch and ran upstairs to plug her phone in.<p>

"Phew!" she said.

As she waited for her phone to charge, she went to the bathroom to change her bandage. "It's not so bad," she said to herself. "It's healing really fast, actually…"

Lucy combed through her tangled hair until it was nice and perfect. That was about the only thing perfect about her. Her face still had discolored blotches; remnants of her time at the mansion.

After spending some time with the television, Lucy got ready for school. She tugged her uniform back on and then pulled the charger out of her phone. There was enough time to make one phone call.

Lucy dialed the mansion twice, but no one answered. "That's odd…" whispered Lucy. "Virgo said that dad was away…" After convincing herself that Virgo went out shopping, Lucy grabbed her bag and headed out the door.

_I wonder if the boys are already there,_ she thought.

By the time Lucy made it to school, her skin was wet with perspiration and her uniform was messy. She ran as fast as she could. She leaned against the school walls and pulled her long socks up and then fixed her hair.

She walked through the gates. School already ended and students were walking around. Lucy was sure that the majority of them were just walking around aimlessly since they may have already picked their clubs. Lucy felt left out. It wasn't a foreign feeling, and to her surprised, she felt comfortable with that.

Students stared and whispered as she passed by. She was sure that they were talking about her skipping class, and that the rumors of her being some sort of delinquent was true. But she also heard Natsu and Gray's name mixed in with hers.

"_I heard that she is whoring around with them!_" whispered one girl to another.

"_That slut!"_ whispered another girl.

Some guys stared at her lustfully. "I wouldn't mind getting a piece of that," said a guy, not even bothering to whisper.

Lucy kept her head down as she walked and tried her best not to cry in front of all these strangers. She felt determined to find a club, even though she really didn't want to.

"_I bet you one-hundred Jewels that I can bang her by the end of the day_," said a guy.

"I'm so tired of this shit!" yelled another male. Lucy looked up, curious.

A tall student with spiky orange hair and blue-tinted glasses towered over the student who made the dirty comment. He fashioned a scowl on his face. Lucy noticed that he also wore a bunch of rings on his fingers, and his hands were balled into tight fists, as if he was ready to land a hit.

"L-Loke!" stammered the student as he staggered back a bit, afraid. "Sorry, man! I didn't realized it would offend you! A-Are you two dating or something?"

Loke swung his fist towards the student's face, but he stopped right before one of his rings made contact with his cheek. "Get out of here," growled Loke. The student quickly ran off.

Lucy felt relieved that there were more people in the school who were actually kind enough to stand up for her. Lucy was about to thank Loke when he quickly interrupted her.

"This never happened," he said in a low, serious tone. "I'll take your silence as your gratitude. Don't expect it to happen again."

And with that, Loke went inside the school, leaving Lucy stunned.

And even more afraid. Students who witnessed what happened were already spreading rumors like wild-fire.

"_Did you hear that?_" whispered someone in the crowd. "_James asked if they were dating and Loke didn't give him a response! I thought she was whoring around with Natsu and Gray, but this is just ridiculous!"_

_Yes, _thought Lucy with trembling lips. _It is ridiculous._

After walking for a bit more, Lucy saw Levy, Gajeel, Natsu, and Gray from a distance. Levy was in the cheer-leading uniform that Erza gave her the other day while the boys were handing out fliers. No one was taking them. Lucy noticed that the hill that overlooked the school entrance wasn't far away, and she cautiously headed there, trying not to be seen by the Fairy Tail Guild members.

Once she arrived at the bottom of the hill, Mavis ran over to her. "Lucy!" she cried. "I'm so glad you came back! How was lunch? Gray told me that you guys went to an Italian restaurant!"

"I-It was fine, I guess. The food was pretty good."

They stood in silence until Mavis spoke up. "Makarov caught Natsu and Gray after you left."

Lucy's eyes widened. "They _did? _What did he say?"

"The boys denied you being at the restaurant with them, so you're off the hook. But Gray and Natsu are being punished with one week of after school detention."

"_Oh no,_" started Lucy, feeling guilt stir up inside her. "I'll have to tell the principal right away. It's not their fault! Well…It's not _all_ their fault."

Mavis smiled. "Whatever you think is best. I have to go now. There might be a kid with a bloody nose at my door again and I may not even know it! Goodbye, Lucy!"

Lucy waved as she watched the young nurse skip off. Lucy still found it unbelievable that she was older than her.

Lucy continued up the hill.

Once she got to the top of the hill, there was a small group of girls waiting for her.

"We saw you coming up here," said the leader who had short brown hair that framed her small face perfectly. Her arms were crossed and she was standing with her legs apart. "And we're here to give you a warning. We are not going to sit by and watch as you tear people apart. Things have tipped now that you're here. You act so cool because you got scars and bruises to show off, but you're not. Look, we don't know exactly what happened earlier today, but we do know that you ditched school with Natsu and Gray and they took the fall. For you."

The girl stepped forward and pushed Lucy onto the dirt.

One of the brown haired girl's companions spoke. "Welcome to Fairy Tail High."

The three girls left, and the threats kept swirling around Lucy's mind.

_You act so cool because you got scars and bruises to show off. _Lucy cringed and touched her injured arm gently. _Why would I want to show these off?_ She asked herself. _They don't know anything…_

Lucy stared up at the blue sky with large, white puffy clouds. The wind slowly picked up, causing the clouds to move faster. "Don't go…" whispered Lucy.

"Lucy?" Lisanna's head poked into view. Her white hair shined brilliantly in the light, as did her blue eyes. "What are you doing?"

Lucy sat up. "Just…admiring the sky…"

Lisanna bit her lip, as if she wanted to say something but couldn't bring herself to. Lucy knew that Lisanna heard about the rumors. She questioned if there was anyone who _didn't _know.

"Let's walk together, Lucy," said Lisanna finally as she held out her hand with a smile. Lucy took it.

The two walked to areas where there weren't very many people. Lisanna kept talking, trying to fill the silence, but Lucy stayed quiet. She liked Lisanna, but her happiness radiated out of her so much that it seemed as if it was draining Lucy's energy. Plus, she didn't know how to relate to such a popular, athletic, pretty girl.

Lisanna brought up Natsu out of the blue. "Natsu has always been pretty unpredictable. I can't tell you how many times he's gotten in trouble. I've known him since we were little kids…" It seemed like Lisanna was going to add on to that sentence, but she moved away from it. "Anyways, I've always looked up to him. He's also really nice and doesn't ever let his friends down. He's…_amazing_…"

Lucy gave her a side-ways glance. "You like him…"

Lisanna giggled. "Is it that obvious?"

Lucy realized why Lisanna has been so hesitant. She must have heard that Lucy must have been whoring around with someone she loves. The young blond just found it hard to believe that someone like Lisanna would actually _consider_ the rumors.

This made Lucy want to cry.

"Oh, it's my brother!" exclaimed Lisanna. A very large man with wild white hair approached. Lucy didn't see the similarities between the two, besides hair. "Elfman!"

"Yo, Lisanna!" Elfman stared hard at his sister's companion. "And Lucy."

_Yes, I am Lucy. The one that you heard of from the rumors, _was what Lucy wanted to say. "Hello," was what she ended up saying instead.

A beautiful woman with long white hair and blue eyes walked up to them. _This must be the sister,_ thought Lucy.

"Mirajane!" exclaimed Lisanna. "This is my friend, Lucy!"

"Hello, Lucy! It's a pleasure to meet you!" said the woman kindly. She turned to her siblings and said, "I've been looking everywhere for you two! We are supposed to meet with Erza and…"

Lucy drowned out the sound of her voice and was already looking for an escape route. The siblings weren't paying attention to her, so she sneaked away, undetected. After all, she had to find a club, and fast.

Lucy headed inside the large building and into an area which she hasn't visited yet. She stepped in front of a door and read the sign. _The Writer's Club_.

"The Writer's Club?" questioned Lucy out loud. The door to the room was closed so she knocked on it a couple times.

"Enter!" came a male voice.

Lucy opened the door and stepped in. "Sorry to intrude…" she started. She froze when she saw Lyon staring at her with an equally surprised expression. "Oh…" Lucy also noticed that Lyon's two companions from the first day of school were in the room, plus a man who strangely looked like a cat in some way.

"Lucy," started Lyon, eyes narrowed. "Why-"

Lucy cut him off by leaving the room. The only club that seemed promising and it housed the devil himself. Lucy cursed.

"_Students!_" came Makarov's voice through the speakers. There was a painful feedback that followed. "_The club fair will be ending in twenty minutes. I repeat! Twenty minutes! Anyone who has not found a club to join by then will have to join the clubs with the least people! Thank you!"_

Lucy heard the click which meant that Makarov has signed off. "Shit," mumbled Lucy. "The last clubs are probably tutoring or something. I better think of something fast…"

Lucy stopped. She opened her bag and took out a crinkled piece of paper. She smoothed it out and looked it over.

"You've got to be kidding me," said Lucy. "I can't believe I've gotten down to my last resort…"

The door to the Writer's Club opened up and Lyon stepped through. He looked worried. Lucy turned her back and was about to walk away when the man grabbed her shoulder.

"I…apologize," said Lyon. When Lucy kept still and silent, Lyon continued. "I over-reacted. And…yes, I have heard the rumors, but I know which ones are bull-shit and which ones are not. I haven't believed anything I've heard about you so far."

"You thought I was a delinquent as well…" started Lucy silently. "You may as well have been the one to start that rumor, am I right?"

Lyon's mouth opened and closed a few times before he took his hand off Lucy's shoulder and sighed. "Yes, that was me. But I was wrong. I…noticed your interest in the Writer's Club. We're still looking for ambitious writers, so if you're interested…"

"I'm sorry," said Lucy, her voice wavering. She couldn't trust Lyon. Without looking back and without another word, she walked off towards the stairs.

Lyon went back into the club room.

Lucy walked quickly through the halls, confused as to where the Fairy Tail Guild room was. She felt like she walked the third floor twelve times when Makarov announced that there was only five minutes left. Lucy leaned against the wall and sighed.

"The least they could do is put up directions," grumbled Lucy, tired. She looked at the flier again. "The room upstairs in the third floor, it says. Gee, I wonder who wrote that." Lucy immediately thought of Natsu.

Lucy decided to try again one last time, and if she didn't make it, then she would just have to stick it up with the unwanted clubs. As she walked, she noticed an unmarked room. All the other rooms were marked, and those were the ones that she paid attention to. Curious, Lucy knocked.

She opened the door and stepped inside.

* * *

><p><strong>Trust me, I never intended to take this long to update. If I keep outlining the chapters, I should be fine ^^ I also noticed a lot of followers! Horray! I'm so glad you're following! (And if you're not then I'm glad you're reading!)<strong>

**I just really hope you guys stick with me to the end. And speaking of END did you guys read the new manga chapter?! 416 I think...but OOOMMMG**


	5. Welcome to the Club

**One day update! Yeah! Let's do this!**

* * *

><p><em>Recap:<em>

_Lucy decided to try again one last time, and if she didn't make it, then she would just have to stick it up with the unwanted clubs. As she walked, she noticed an unmarked room. All the other rooms were marked, and those were the ones that she paid attention to. Curious, Lucy knocked._

_She opened the door and stepped inside._

* * *

><p>"Hey, did you guys see Lucy anywhere?" asked Natsu when Lisanna and her siblings walked into the room. Natsu was sitting on top of a desk, waiting.<p>

Lisanna let out a nervous chuckle. "Yeah…but we lost her a while ago. I guess she got tired of hearing me talk." The heat rushed to her face when she remembered what she told Lucy.

When the siblings went to go stand next to Erza, Makarov announced that there was only twenty minutes left.

"I wonder what the old man is going to make us do this time," said Gray to Natsu.

Natsu shrugged and said, "My guess is gardening. But you never really know with him."

"You're so lucky you didn't get Lucy involved in this," started Erza as she folded the cheer-leading uniform that Levy gave back. "I would have slammed your heads together."

"It was worth it," said Gray.

"Yeah!" chirped Natsu. "We should totally do it again!"

Lisanna pursed her lips and looked away. She was playing with her fingers when Mirajane took her hand. "One of these days you have to tell him," she whispered with a smile.

Lisanna quickly shook her head. "No, I can't! He only sees me as a friend!"

"You don't know that…"

Every one waited in anticipation once they heard the door to the club room knock. Erza was about to tell the person to enter when Lucy stepped through. Natsu's eyes lit up and he held a grin.

"I knew she would come!" He exclaimed joyously.

"I had no other choice…" mumbled Lucy for only her to hear.

"Lucy!" exclaimed Levy as she ran up to the young blonde. She was about to hug her when she thought otherwise. "I'm so happy you made it!"

Lucy looked around the room and saw that the majority of them were from the same class as her. Even the girl with long, wavy brown hair, Cana, was there. In class, Lucy always heard her conversations start and end with booze.

From another class was Lisanna and her two siblings, Mirajane and Elfman. Upon seeing them, Lucy looked down as her face turned red. "I'm sorry," she said.

"It's no problem," said Mirajane. "I would have run away myself if I were another person!"

"Wh-What now?" questioned Lucy nervously. Now that she was finally in a club, what was she supposed to do?

Erza cleared her throat. "I'll sign you up in a moment, Lucy. I need to wait for the applications from our mentor. But for now, let's talk about the fall sports. The council and I have picked out the sports for this year's fall sports event. We are in charge of helping with the set up."

"_Laaaaame!_" shouted Natsu, putting his hands behind his head. "Let's go out and eat or something."

Lucy shot him a look. Gray noticed this and chuckled, causing Natsu to hit him over the head. Gray got up and pushed Natsu off the desk, causing him to fall on his back.

Gajeel threw a notebook at them. "_Shut up!_" The tall, pierced man joined in on the fight.

Levy rolled her eyes. "_Boys_," she muttered.

Elfman, out of nowhere, said something about being a man and joined into the fight as well. Erza's eye twitched. Her cool demeanor was gone, and she went up to the boys and whacked them all on the head.

Lucy was sure there was a bump on the back of their heads.

"What is going on here?" questioned a male voice behind Lucy and Levy. They both jumped around and looked down. The principal was standing there. The two girls split to make enough room for Makarov to walk through.

"Erza's a bully!" whined Natsu. All the boys stood up rubbing the back of their heads.

Makarov approached Erza and handed her the applications. "Any new recruits?"

"Just one," replied the scarlet haired woman as she looked over at Lucy with a smile.

"I-I'm so sorry about jumping out the window earlier!" stammered Lucy. Her face turned bright red. "And I would also like to receive punishment! I was skipping with Natsu and Gray earlier!"

The students looked at her, stunned.

"Lucy, it's alright," said Gray.

"No, it's not," responded Lucy.

Makarov shook his head. "I didn't catch you with them, so it's alright." The principal smiled. "Just consider this as a warning. And welcome to the Fairy Tail Guild. These guys don't really do that much, but they help out with events and stuff. Have you guys talked about the sports festival yet?"

"Yeah," replied Erza as she finished writing up Lucy as part of the club. "I haven't told them what sports we're doing, though."

"Alright. You do that, but I have principal stuff to attend to. And boys?" Makarov looked over at Gray and Natsu. "You two will be working on the garden today." The principal left the room.

"I knew it!" cried Natsu as he punched his fist into the air. "I'm on a roll today!"

Gray scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"Hey, what the hell are we doing?" questioned Cana. "Why are we all just sitting around when we could be out celebrating Lucy's membership? Let's go out and drink some booze or somethin'!"

Mirajane chuckled softly. "We're under-age, Cana. Including you."

Cana pulled out her wallet and dug into the contents. She pulled out a card and held it out. "That's why you need to have one of these! Everyone needs a fake I.D! It's expensive, but it works! Most of the time, at least!"

"We're not doing that." Stated Levy as she placed her hands on her hips. "Can't we just go buy a cake or something?"

"_A booze cake!_" cried Cana, putting her hands up in the air.

Erza sighed. "Cana, did you put vodka in your water bottle? _Again?_"

The brown haired woman chuckled. "Maybe. You're not going to report me, will you, _president?_"

"Of course I will."

Lucy held her hands behind her back and rocked herself back and forth. Her legs were getting a bit tired from just standing. "Actually," she said. "I think I'll just go home. Thank you for the consideration, though…I really appreciate it. Let's have cake another time."

"I'll bring it," stated Cana with a raise of her hand. Elfman put it down.

"Bye," said Lucy, leaving the room.

Once Lucy was gone, everyone looked over at Cana who was smiling smugly. "What?" she questioned. "You never know. She may like booze too!"

"You scared her off!" complained Natsu. Lisanna bit her lip.

Lucy walked through the empty halls of the school. She must have been in the club room for a while. As she passed the gates, she noticed Loke with a girl. The girl that pushed her down. The two were standing really close and they were smiling.

_Wow,_ thought Lucy. _I didn't see that coming._

The girl stopped talking and looked over at Lucy. The smile she had on her face faded into a deep scowl. What made Lucy feel hurt even more was that Loke was scowling at her as well.

_I don't understand…_ thought Lucy. _What did I do to him?_ Lucy decided to keep her head down and walked as quickly as she could.

When she got home, she plugged her phone back in and then received a call from Virgo. She picked up right away.

"Virgo?" she asked once she placed the phone to her ear.

"Lucy," came Virgo's voice on the other line. "How are you?"

"I'm doing well. I was able to join a club today."

"Really? I'm so glad! What club? A book club, perhaps?"

Lucy scoffed. "I wish. I joined the Fairy Tail Guild. From what I heard, they help set up events. Grunt work. What have I gotten myself into, Virgo?"

"I'm sure you'll enjoy it eventually."

Lucy smiled but then frowned soon after. "Ne, Virgo…Were you out shopping earlier?"

"No, why?"

"Why didn't you pick up the phone?"

There was a long pause. Too long, in Lucy's opinion. In a whisper she asked, "Did….Did he come home?"

"Not yet," responded Virgo quickly. "I was just taking a nap."

Lucy heard the voices of two males on the other line, which caused her brows to furrow. "Who's there?"

"No one," responded Virgo quickly with a nervous laugh. "Just the television."

"I've got the camera ready," was what Lucy heard from one of the guys.

"Listen," said the maid quietly. "I've got to go. I'll call you tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay…"

"I love you, Lucy."

"I love you too, Virgo."

The call ended.

_What is going on over there?_ Thought Lucy. Her heart rate started going up and her eyes widened as she thought, _The camera's ready? Did dad hire someone to video tape Virgo…Oh my God…_

Lucy ran to the bathroom and leaned over the toilet as she threw up and cried. She couldn't even imagine the humiliation and pain Virgo was going through.

Later in the evening, Lucy was doing her homework in her room. As she was finishing up, she hear a distinct, _meow_. Looking over at her window, she saw Natsu's blue cat with a white-tipped tail.

"What in the world?" Lucy questioned. She unlocked the locks to the window and slid it open. The cat immediately jumped onto her bed and made himself comfortable. "Natsu must be worried sick!" she cried.

The cat _meowed_ once again and curled onto Lucy's lap and purred. The young blonde never had a pet before in her life, and rarely ever saw any animals after her mom died. Lucy started petting the cat. "I'm sorry, but I don't remember your name…" she looked at the tag on the collar and saw the name Happy.

"Happy," Lucy repeated. The cat looked up at her expectantly. "Smart cat," she commented. "But can you fly?"

The cat tilted his head, confused.

"Of course you can't."

Someone knocked on her door. "Sorry," said Lucy as she removed the cat off of her. "I have to go get that."

Lucy hurried downstairs and opened the door. There stood Natsu, out of breath.

"H-Have you seen my cat?" he panted. "I could have sworn he came this way."

"Yeah, he's inside," said Lucy. She moved to the side to let Natsu pass.

Natsu followed Lucy after she shut the door behind him. They went upstairs and into a cat-less bedroom.

"Uh-oh," said the woman as she looked underneath her bed. "He was here, I swear!"

Natsu help look in the bedroom, but no cat was seen. The both looked up when they heard a _meow_ coming from the window. Happy was sitting on the window sill again.

"Happy!" Natsu said sternly. "You're in big trouble!"

Happy jumped into the room and landed on Natsu's shoulders. The pink haired male turned to Lucy and said, "Thank you so much. I'll have to repay you back. How he ended here is just strange though."

"I agree," responded Lucy. "And no, you don't have to repay me. Getting to pet him was enough."

Natsu grinned. "I'll see you at school tomorrow. Thanks again!"

Lucy showed him out and she watched as he scolded his cat, causing people walking his way to raise an eyebrow. Lucy looked up at the moon.

_It's a beautiful night to take a walk_, she thought. Lucy put on her sneakers and stepped out into the warm atmosphere. She ordered a candy apple from a street vendor and smiled. The last time she had a candy apple was the first, and the only, time she visited an amusement park with her parents. She savored every bite of it.

After tossing the candy apple stick into the trash, she noticed a familiar face from a distance. Lyon's white hair glowed in the moonlight. Next to him was a young woman with long dark blue hair that curled up at the ends.

"I can't keep lying to myself," she said straightforwardly. "We had a good run, but I can't be with you anymore."

"B-But…" stammered Lyon. He looked crushed. "Juvia, I love you! You can't just walk out on me like that! After all we've been through together!"

"I think we can only be friends, Lyon. I stopped loving you after I discovered my true feelings…I'm sorry, but this is how it's supposed to be."

"Juvia, please don't do this. I love you."

"I don't love you anymore. My heart belongs to someone else now."

"Juvia…"

Lyon and Lucy stared at Juvia's retreating figure.

_I can't believe I just watched that_, thought Lucy with her mouth open. Lyon sat on the nearest bench, rested his elbows on his knees, and then covered his face. Even from a distance Lucy could tell that he was shaking.

_I could go back_, Lucy thought. _I could pretend like nothing happened here and just forget about it. After all, he was an ass to me. But he apologized…I…I can't just stand here while he's in distress, even though he's caused me some._ And with that resolution, Lucy bravely approached Lyon.

When she stepped in front of him, Lyon looked up with hopeful eyes. He most likely thought that Juvia came back to take back what she said, but he looked down after realizing it wasn't her.

"What are you doing here?" he muttered, not looking at the person in front of him.

"I…I saw what happened," whispered Lucy nervously. "I can't fix things, but I can lend an ear, if you want."

Lyon looked up and into Lucy's brown eyes. Sighing, he patted the seat next to him. Lucy sat down and waited for Lyon to talk. After what seemed like forever, Lyon finally decided to speak.

"A few months ago, me, Juvia, Gray, Cana, Natsu, and a few others went on a trip to the beach. We stayed in a villa that we rented out. Cana, of course, brought a bunch of alcohol. We all drank, and we all got really drunk. Natsu was the first to pass out, then me. When I woke up, I saw everyone sprawled on the floor, dead asleep. Everyone was there, except for Gray and Juvia. I had a really bad hangover, but I forced myself to go look for them. I had a really bad feeling. While I was walking down one of the hallways, I heard arguing coming from one of the rooms. I entered and found Gray with only his pants on. That wasn't a surprise to me, but what did surprise me was how Juvia was standing in front of him in only a blanket.

We all stood in the room stunned. After a few moments, Gray claimed that he had no idea how it ended up that way. I lost my temper and went to go kill Gray. Juvia stopped me, of course. I never forgave Gray for that since I always thought he made the first move. But tonight I found out it was Juvia who did it. And she wanted more ever since."

Lyon covered his hands with his face again. "But I can't bring myself to hate her. I love her too much…"

Lucy rubbed his back. "Hey," she whispered. "You're not at fault." They both stayed silent for a while.

"I don't want to go home," said Lyon finally.

"I'll make us something to eat," said Lucy. She stood up. "Come on, let's go to my place."

Lyon stared at her for a few seconds before nodding his head. "Thank you."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Ooooohhhh boy, here we go. <strong>_**Thanks for the reviews! I usually see the mistakes I made when I re-read the story on my phone, so if you see something really distracting, go ahead and tell me ^^ I try to make this as best as I possibly can. So props for the guest who informed me on a big mistake. It must be this big screen that makes me look over things o.o**

**~Bl00dyshad0w**


	6. My First Kiss Went a Little like This

**Hi there! Another update! Yaaaay, let's celebrate with booze cake!**

* * *

><p><em>Recap:<em>

_"I don't want to go home," said Lyon finally._

_"I'll make us something to eat," said Lucy. She stood up. "Come on, let's go to my place."_

_Lyon stared at her for a few seconds before nodding his head. "Thank you."_

* * *

><p>Lucy led the way to her home with Lyon following right beside her. She was beginning to rethink herself.<p>

_Was this a good idea? _She questioned as she bit her lip. _Lyon is a good guy, but is he really? He can't be as bad as my dad is. I'm just going to cook him dinner to cheer him up. That's all. That's all we're going to do._

Lucy stole a glance at her male companion. His face looked like he was in deep concentration, as if he was trying to figure out how to get Juvia back.

Lucy stepped in front of her door. Lyon looked up, stunned.

"Nice house," he commented as Lucy inserted the key and turned. He followed Lucy inside.

Lucy went into the kitchen and put on her pink apron as Lyon sat on the couch. "How do you feel about chicken and broccoli stir fry?" Lucy called as she pulled on the bow of her apron and started tying her hair up.

"Sounds good!" replied Lyon. "Need any help?"

"No thank you," responded Lucy. "It will take several minutes probably. Go ahead and watch T.V if you want."

Lyon nodded his head and turned on the television.

As Lucy was cooking, she realized that it was the first time she has ever cooked for a guy before. Or actually, the first time she cooked for anyone besides Virgo. Looking at her hands, she noticed that they were shaking. _At this rate,_ she thought, _it's probably going to take a bit more than several minutes._

When the food was on the plates, Lucy brought them to the living room where Lyon was hunched over and looking down at his phone. Probably waiting for a response from Juvia.

"It's no use," whispered Lyon, dropping the phone to the floor. "She's not going to respond. I don't know what I'm going to do now…"

"You can eat," said Lucy as she handed the silver-haired teen a plate of stir-fry. Lucy sat down next to him.

"Again, I'm really sorry about…the rumors," said Lyon.

"It's okay," said Lucy, not taking her eyes off the screen.

The two ate in awkward silence. When Lucy was done, she took Lyon's plate and her own back to the kitchen. When she came back, Lyon wasn't on the couch. He was standing up and looking at a picture of Lucy and Virgo.

"Who's that?" he asked.

"My…My good friend, I suppose. She's like a mother to me."

"Where is she now?"

Lucy stayed silent and played with the solid gold ring on her finger which was a gift to her from Virgo. Lyon turned around.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I did it again. Sorry."

"No, no. It's fine…"

The ring that Lucy was playing with slipped off her finger and rolled towards Lyon. The woman chased after it and knelt down the same time Lyon did. The ring dropped in between them, but neither of them picked it up.

Lucy was frozen under Lyon's stare. With a flick of a switch, his aura changed. It reached out and pulled Lucy forward, holding her. Keeping her from getting up.

"Wh-what-" started Lucy. Lyon interrupted her when he pushed her gently onto the floor and kissed her.

_What's going on?_ Thought Lucy. Lyon's warmth spread throughout Lucy's body. To her surprise, she felt comforted. Lucy never really noticed how deprived of human interaction she was until that moment. She pulled Lyon closer. Her heart pumped with adrenaline. She stopped thinking straight as she let Lyon mold his lips with hers.

Lyon's kisses trailed to her neck which he placed feathered kisses upon. Lucy's breath was shallow and shaky. Lyon slowly pulled Lucy's shirt up and was able to fold it just underneath her bra when things ended.

Lucy's conscious cleared. She pushed Lyon as hard as she could and scrambled backwards until her back made contact with the wall.

It seemed as though Lyon came to his senses as well. His face was clouded with guilt as he panted, staring at Lucy. He shook his head. "L-Lucy…I swear, that _was not _me. I'm so sorry…I…" He quickly got up and ran out of the house.

Lucy stayed where she was. She wrapped her arms around her legs and laid her head down.

_My first kiss,_ she thought. _I never thought it would happen like this…How am I supposed to even look at him at school tomorrow? _

Lucy stayed the way she was for a while, listening to the drama playing on the T.V. She eventually stood up, turned it off, and got ready for a bath.

The next day at school, Sherry, Yuka, and Lyon made it to the gates the same time Lucy did. Lyon looked at her with a guilt stricken expression, but Lucy quickly turned away. She couldn't bring herself to look at him. If she didn't stop him, who knows how much farther they would have gone.

"Looks like she's still mad at you," said Yuka to Lyon as they watched Lucy quickly enter school grounds. "I don't blame her. People are being way too rough on her, if you ask me."

"So what exactly did you do?" asked Sherry.

Lyon ignored her and went ahead.

Yuka stood closer to Sherry and whispered, "You know, now that he's single…"

Sherry looked down. "I know…but he's madly in love with Juvia. I don't think I'll ever be able to fill in her shoes."

Ahead of her, Lucy noticed Gray and Juvia. Plus a whole bunch of students gathered around, watching them argue.

"Don't ignore me, Gray! I told you that I love you!"

"I already told you, lady! I don't want to have _anything _to do with you! Okay?"

Lucy felt like she was watching a replay of what happened the other night with Lyon and Juvia.

"Gray!" cried Juvia, grabbing onto Gray's arm. She whispered, "_You can't just have sex with me like that and not feel anything for me!"_

Gray pushed her off. "This really isn't a conversation we should be having in public. Leave me alone!"

The raven-haired teen stormed off. Juvia broke down in tears and her friends rushed over to her aid. Lucy found it in her to comfort Lyon, but she didn't find it in her to comfort Juvia. She walked away from the scene to join class.

Everyone was asking Gray what happened, but he kept his earphones in, blasting music. Erza gave him a look which Lucy figured was her way of saying, "_You're off the hook for now, but we're definitely talking about this later."_

Gildarts walked in and threw a chalkboard eraser at Gray when he didn't turn his music off when asked.

"_I heard Lyon broke up with Juvia,_" said Natsu as he leaned towards Lucy.

"_It was Juvia who broke up with him."_

"_How do you know that?"_

A lump in Lucy's throat appeared and she tried swallowing it down. "_Uh…That's just what I heard."_

Gildarts started talking about the fall sports festival and the activities that would be going on. Before Lucy drowned out the sound of his voice, she heard that there would be swimming, long-distance running, tennis, volleyball, and martial arts. There were most likely more but she didn't catch them.

_I wonder if I should tell him…_ thought Lucy as she looked over at Gray. _Actually, that's probably a bad idea. Gray, after Juvia broke up with your cousin last night, he kissed me. And I let him. But I wonder if he and Lyon were close in the past, but because of recent events, they can't stand each other? Now more than ever, probably. I just wish there was something I could do to help…_Lucy unconsciously touched her lips and them immediately put it back down. _I still can't get over what happened. _Lucy could still feel Lyon's heat from his body and it made her shudder. Her stomach turned into knots when she thought about what everyone would think if they find out what happened. _Someone would probably spread a rumor that I was the reason that Juvia and Lyon broke up._

"_Everything alright, Luce?_"

_Luce? _Lucy looked at Natsu, confused. _Did…he just give me a nickname?_

"_Sorry," _whispered the pink-haired student as he scratched the back of his head. _"I like simplified versions of things. Levy calls me simple-minded, so I guess it works."_

"_Do you even know what simple-minded means?"_

"_Not really. But you didn't answer my question."_

"_I-I'm fine. Just deep in thought, I guess." _

Lucy looked over at Gildarts when Natsu said, "_Thanks again. For Happy, I mean. I don't know what I would have done if I lost him."_

"_You're welcome."_

"Lucy Hearfilia!" roared Gildarts. Students turned around in their seat to get a good look at Lucy. Her face turned bright red. "Do not be influenced by Natsu!"

Lucy nodded her head, hoping Mr. Clive wasn't going to say anything more about her.

After school, Erza pulled Gray aside like she face-said earlier. Lucy didn't want to get involved so she quickly left.

"See you tomorrow, Luce!" exclaimed Natsu. He was on his way to after school detention.

Lucy waved and headed down the stairs. As she walked home, she noticed a certain man with orange hair. He was pacing around while looking at the ground. "_Where is it, where is it?_" she heard him say.

_What is he looking for?_ Lucy thought.

Looking down, Lucy saw something shiny. A ring. _This is probably what he's looking for._ Lucy bent down and picked up the large gold ring. Inscribed in cursive was the name, _Karen Lilicia._

_Former lover? Maybe his mother?_

Lucy looked up when she felt Loke's gaze on her. He held a look of shock instead of the usual scowl, but he immediately fixed that.

"I-I found this!" said Lucy lamely as she held up the ring for Loke to see clearly.

Loke walked up to Lucy and snatched the ring away just before she could ask who Karen was.

"Next time," growled Loke as he fastened the ring on his finger once again. "Stay far away." He walked away, not even giving Lucy a second glance.

The only thing that made the day better for Lucy was that she was going to call Virgo the moment she got home. There was a lot to tell her, and Lucy didn't know where to start.

"A blue cat?" questioned Virgo.

"Yeah," responded Lucy into the phone. "His cat somehow found out where I live and I let him in. Natsu came by soon afterwards to pick him up."

"Natsu was in the house?" Virgo sounded like she was starting to get motherly and over-protective. Lucy wasn't sure if she wanted to tell her the rest.

"Yeah…but he was in and out. Anyways, I took a walk and watched a couple break up. They both go to my school. After the girl left, I invited the guy in to make him dinner because he looked miserable."

"_Lucy!_"

"I know, I know! I guess I shouldn't have done it, but I didn't know at the moment! I didn't want to just leave him there!"

Virgo sighed. Lucy imagined the maid rubbing the bridge of her nose in frustration. "Did anything happen?"

Lucy stayed silent, which was all the answer Virgo needed. "_For goodness sake, Lucy! _ You have to be more careful than that! Did he take your virginity?"

Lucy's face heated up. "N-No! I stopped him before we could do…_that!_"

The two stayed silent. Lucy bit her lip nervously, not sure what to say. Finally she said, "Virgo, I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

"Alright Lucy. I have to go now, anyways. I'll talk to you later, okay? _Be safe_."

"Yes Virgo. I love you."

"I love you too."

After hanging up, Lucy rushed to her journal to begin writing down all that happened.

Juvia exited the building and started to wander. _Gray_, she thought. _You have to love me. You made love with me. I could have been pregnant. I stopped loving Lyon to love you. _

_Juvia took a long swig of the alcohol Cana smuggled into the villa._

"_What's a party without drinks?" exclaimed Cana, holding her bottle of alcohol up. She sat in between two men. No one really knew who they were. They just showed up. _

_Juvia was snuggled in the arms of her boyfriend, Lyon. He was talking to Natsu about food._

_Juvia, however, was not interested in that. She was interested in the man talking to Gajeel. Gray. Juvia stared at his handsome features and imagined herself wrapped in his arms._

"_Let's see who can hold their alcohol the best!" cried Cana before emptying her bottle. _

_Everyone joined in the game, since they were all a bit drunk._

"_Natsu passed out!" exclaimed Gajeel with a laugh. He brought out a black marker to draw on Natsu's face._

_Lyon was second. Then Gajeel, after vandalizing Natsu's face, of course. Then Cana and her male companions._

_Juvia looked at Gray. He was lounged on the couch as he continued drinking his alcohol. He was beyond drunk. "Looks like it's just you and me," he started. "I bet I'll win!"_

_Juvia didn't give it another thought and jumped on him._

Juvia smiled, reliving the moment in her head.

* * *

><p><strong>Juvia is craaaaazy! D: Review? Fav? Follow? Yeah?<strong>

**~Bl00dyshad0w**


	7. Messy Room

_Recap:_

_Juvia looked at Gray. He was lounged on the couch as he continued drinking his alcohol. He was beyond drunk. "Looks like it's just you and me," he started. "I bet I'll win!"_

_Juvia didn't give it another thought and jumped on him._

Juvia smiled, reliving the moment in her head.

* * *

><p>The next day, Lucy got to class a minute before the bell was supposed to ring. She got up a lot later than she intended to, which meant she ate no breakfast and had no lunch with her. She remembered to stuff her wallet in her pocket, at least.<p>

"There you are!" exclaimed Levy as she threw her hands into the air dramatically. Her hand accidentally smacked Erza in the face who was leaning towards the blue haired girl. Levy's eyes widened in fear as she quickly brought her arms to her. "_Oops!_ Don't kill me, Erza!"

"It's fine," said Erza, not even fazed.

"Hurry and sit down!" said Gildarts who had his feet on top of his desk. He was leaned back in his chair, relaxed.

Once Lucy sat down, a girl from another class came in with something in her hand. Gildarts looked at her with a brow raised.

"Can I help you?" he questioned.

The girl ignored him and scanned the room. Once she saw Gray, she quickly walked up to him, placed a note on his desk, said it was from Juvia, and then ran off.

Everyone watched as Gray unfolded the note and read it. Shortly after, he ripped it up to pieces and threw it on the floor.

"You're gonna have to pick that up," said the teacher. Ignored again, Glidarts _tsked_ and turned to Cana. "Cana, can you get me the stack of paper work that is sitting on my desk? I forgot it."

"Y-Yes!" Cana quickly got up and ran out of the room.

_That was an odd reaction_, thought Lucy.

As Gildarts talked about his high school days, Natsu turned to Lucy and asked, _"Hey, what's up with Gray?"_

_Does he not know what happened that day? Does Cana even know? Wh-What should I tell him?_

Lucy stared at her seat mate with a blank expression.

"_Luce?_"

"_I-I'm not sure!_"

"Lucy!" Gildarts scolded. Cana came in with a short stack of paper. "Ah, thank you!" He took the papers from Cana, but she stood frozen as she stared up at Gildarts.

"Cana, what are you doing?" asked a student in the front row.

Gildarts looked at Cana, confused.

The young woman shook her head and said, "You should probably do something about those wrinkles, Gildarts. Your age is catching up on you."

Gildarts narrowed his eyes, but you could tell that he really wanted to go look at himself in a mirror. Cana sat down and sighed deeply.

During lunch, Lucy shyly asked Levy if she could come with her to buy some food. Levy and Gajeel were surprised, but quickly recovered.

"Yes, of course!" exclaimed Levy, jumping out of her seat. She eyed Gajeel and said in a flat voice, "You eat my food, you _die_."

Gajeel gulped and nodded.

Levy led Lucy to the convenience store, avoiding the cafeteria. "You'd rather not be surrounded by those…_people_, am I right?"

Lucy nodded. "Thank you. I was almost worried that you were going to lead me there."

"I just hope this little phase of theirs will pass soon," said the blue haired girl. "We've never gotten many new transfer students before. Plus, you're pretty. So you'd be a target, bruises or no bruises."

Lucy blushed a bit. "Thank you. There are plenty of people in Magnolia…why aren't there that many transfer students?"

Levy sighed. "For about a decade now, Magnolia has split into two. It's nothing official, but everyone knows it. The old and new Magnolia. On the other side of town is the new Magnolia. There are more job openings there, and it's a larger area. It's also the prettier side, so there is more tourism."

Lucy and Levy arrived at the convenience store. Lucy bought herself, her companion, and Gajeel a few red bean buns, soda, and some candy. When they got back to the classroom, Gajeel was seen chowing down on Levy's lunch.

"_You bastard!_" screamed Levy. Students in the room quickly turned their heads in surprise. "_You ate my lunch! Again!"_

Gajeel's eyes widened and he dropped his chopsticks. Levy ran towards Gajeel, jumped over desks, and the whacked him over the head with her lunch box. Which was made of metal.

Once school ended, Erza went up to Lucy and reminded her that there would be a Fairy Tail Guild meeting after school on Monday.

"Some manual labor, probably," commented Natsu as he headed out the door with Gray.

Lucy waited for a bit until more people left the building. She felt really uncomfortable going down the stairs with a crowd of students, which caused her to almost trip once.

When Lucy got to the gate, she saw Juvia come around the corner. Her eyes were narrowed, and her lips were curled into a nasty snarl.

"_You_," she growled.

Lucy blinked twice. "H-Hello."

"_Stop advancing on Gray! You stupid _slut!_ Are you sleeping with him?"_

Lucy didn't know what to do. She looked around but saw no one. The area was conveniently empty, in Juvia's case.

"_You _slut!_" _Juvia repeated.

"J-Juvia! I don't-"

"_Shut up! You should just leave this school! No one likes you, anyways!"_

At this point, Lucy's eyes were watering.

"_You better stay away from Gray! Gray is _mine!_ Gray will _always_ be mine!"_

_She's insane!_ Thought Lucy. _I need to get out of here before she hurts me!_

Lucy tried to run past Juvia, but the blue-haired woman grabbed hold of Lucy and smacked her across the face.

"Juvia!" Gray came out of nowhere and grabbed her. "_You crazy_ bitch_! What are you doing?_"

Juvia let out a scream and jabbed Gray with her elbow, causing him to let go. She ran back inside the building.

"Lucy, are you okay?" asked Gray worriedly.

Lucy kept her hand on the area that Juvia scratched her and nodded. "Yeah, I'm okay. Thank you."

"Want me to walk you home?"

"No. You're supposed to be in detention."

"So? What kind of friend would I be if I didn't come help? I saw you guys from the second floor."

Lucy blushed but quickly shook her head. "It's alright Gray. I don't want to get you into more trouble that you already are in. I'll go. I'll be okay."

"Alright, Lucy. I'll see you on Monday, then."

As Lucy walked home, she removed her hand that was covering her cheek and saw a small streak of blood.

_Great. Something else added to my collection._

"Lucy!"

Lucy looked up and saw Lyon standing in front of her door and was holding two white plastic bags. Lucy stopped, unsure whether or not she should approach.

Lyon approached for her instead.

"I'm here to apologize. My actions were inappropriate and I wouldn't blame you if you don't forgive me. Hell, I wouldn't even forgive me. So I came with gifts."

Lucy watched as Lyon held up the bag in his left hand. "This one is vanilla ice cream. The other bag has a small chocolate cake and some cupcakes." Lyon blushed. "I really didn't know what else to bring. When Juvia was on her period and was mad at me, I would bring her a ton of sweets and she would cheer up. I was…hoping you'd somehow cheer up with this."

Lucy tried to stifle her laughter by covering her mouth.

"What's so funny?" asked Lyon.

"I-I'm sorry!" Lucy said with a laugh. "It's just…this scene seems pretty funny to me."

Lucy took the bags from Lyon. "While I am still mad at your actions, you were heartbroken and your head wasn't in the right place. I should be apologizing for letting you in my home in your condition in the first place. If I knew this would happen…" Lucy shook her head. "Thank you for the sweets. I'll be fat by Monday."

Lyon smiled. "Good. You need some meat in those bones." The silver haired-teen narrowed his eyes when he saw the fresh mark on Lucy's cheek. "Is that…new?"

"Oh," Lucy held both bags in one hand while her free hand flew to her cheek. "This? I just scratched myself too hard. I need to cut my nails."

"Your nails are short."

"And…they're sharp."

Lyon gently pulled away Lucy's hand. "Did Juvia do this to you?" he whispered.

Lucy gulped and then slowly nodded her head. Lyon sighed and let go of Lucy.

"Shall we go inside? I want to talk about Juvia."

Lucy bit her lip. Lyon knew what her answer was going to be so he insisted on sitting on a bench instead.

When the two sat down Lucy said, "Gray was the one who pulled Juvia away from me." She knew Gray was the last person Lyon wanted to hear about.

"I'm glad someone did. Even if it was him. Juvia won't even acknowledge me when I try to talk to her in class. Even her friends ignore me. I nearly broke down today. Later on during lunch, Gray visited me outside where I was taking a walk. He told me that the note that she wrote him said something along the lines of, _I want to be the mother of your children_. Gray and I believe that she needs…help."

Lucy looked up, sensing someone familiar.

Levy and Loke were walking together. Once Levy spotted Lucy, her eyes lit up and she smiled. "Lucy!"

Loke's head snapped in her direction. The moment the two made eye contact, he left as quick as possible. Levy looked at him confused, but then she walked up to Lyon and Lucy.

"What are you guys doing here?" asked the blue-haired girl curiously.

"I was just discussing some personal stuff with Lucy," said Lyon as he got up. "I have to leave for work now. I'll see you guys later." He took off.

"What's that?" asked Levy, pointing to the bags.

"Some sweets. I should probably go put the ice cream in the freezer, but I need to ask you something. Why does Loke hate me so much?"

Levy shrugged. "I don't know. I've never seen him act like this before. Hey, you want to hang out after you put the ice cream away?"

Lucy looked at her nervously and then shook her head. "Sorry. I'm going to be busy. I hope you don't mind."

"No, it's okay. I'll see you Monday!"

Levy ran the direction Loke went as Lucy got up and walked to her house.

"He showed up _again?_" asked Virgo.

Lucy put a spoonful of vanilla ice cream in her mouth and said, "yeah, but I didn't let him inside this time. He came to apologize."

"Lucy, don't speak with your mouth full! And that's nice of him, even though he did sexually harass you."

"Virgo, he wasn't in a clear state of mind."

"State of mind my _ass_! He overpowered you! This is still too unbelievable to me!"

"Virgo-"

"If I was there, I would have dragged his ass out of the house and whipped him until he passed out!"

"That's a little extreme."

"Sexually harassing you is a little extreme."

_Is it still sexual harassment if I was letting him? _Was what Lucy wanted to ask, but she stayed silent.

"Lucy, never let that boy in your house again."

"Roger that."

"Good! Is there anything you would like to talk about? Do you need more money?"

"I'm not that big in shopping, Virgo. You are. I don't know what to do with all this money."

"Shopping?"

The two laughed. When they hung up, Lucy cried. She missed Virgo so much that it hurt.

"_Meow!_"

Lucy looked up at her window. Once again, Happy was sitting on the window sill, waiting for her to open it. The young woman crawled on top of her bed and flipped the locks open and then pulled the window up. Happy jumped in.

Lucy stuck her head out the window and looked both ways. "Natsu?" she called. No response. When she went back in her room, she saw Happy nestled in on top of her pillow. Lucy huffed. "You're going to get cat hair all over that!"

And hour later, Natsu still didn't show up.

"That boy needs to learn how to take care of his pets!" muttered Lucy. She grabbed a bag and stuffed Happy in it. "At least I know where he lives. Sort of."

Lucy quickly changed out of her school uniform which she forgot to take off after she came home. She slipped on a red tank top, her white hoodie, and jeans. Happy tried to escape the bag, but Lucy pushed his head back down and zipped it far enough so that the cat could have air.

"_Meow!_"

"I'm going to get you back to Natsu," said Lucy as she left the house.

She had her hoodie up once she reached the apartments. If anyone caught her, she was dead. She didn't do too well under pressure. Upon reaching the apartments, she froze when she realized how big it was.

"I'm never going to find Natsu in this place," she said, looking at the building as if seeing it for the first time.

"Hey, Lucy! What are you doing here?"

Lucy fixed her gaze on Erza. She was out of her school uniform and was wearing a black long sleeved shirt and dark blue jean shorts.

"Erza! I need your help!"

"What for?"

"_Meow!"_

Erza tilted her head. "Is there….a _cat_ in your bag?"

Lucy sighed. "I'm busted already. Forget it, I'll find another way."

"Whoa, wait a minute!" The scarlet haired woman grabbed Lucy's wrist before she could leave. "_Is that Happy in there?_" she whispered.

"_Yeah…how did you know?"_

"_I've known Natsu since we were kids. There is nothing he can't hide from me._"

"Can you help me find him?" asked Lucy once Erza released her wrist.

"I'm sorry, Lucy. I actually have a…I mean I have to meet with someone right now and I'm already late as it is. You'll never get inside without an inspection, so I suggest climbing. He's on the second floor so it won't be hard. If you go around the building…"

Erza instructed Lucy on where to go and then she was off to her meeting. Lucy ducked, crawled, and ran to the back of the building. When she got there, she counted the windows.

"_13, 14, 15, 16, 17! _That better be it!"

People on the second floor and up had their own little balcony. Lucy had to jump to reach the railings with the risk that see may be seen by the tenant who lived in the apartment under Natsu. Her fingers grabbed onto the metal and she struggled to pull herself up and she swung her legs as she pulled. Her injured arm didn't even hurt that much.

"Almost…got it!" she said. She was able to get her left foot onto the balcony, which made things much easier after that. She climbed over the railings and landed in front of a glass sliding door that was partially opened. Enough to let a cat through.

Through the door, Lucy could clearly see Natsu sprawled on the floor like a starfish. Drool was dripping out of his mouth and his shirt was halfway up, revealing his abs. Lucy drew her attention to the messy room. Trash flooded the floor like it wasn't cleaned in months. From where she was standing, Lucy could smell the stench.

"I don't blame you for leaving this," said Lucy to Happy.

"_Meow!_"

Lucy slid the door open and then closed it. Natsu woke up after the young woman set her bag down.

Natsu looked at her with tired eyes. "Why are you in my dream, Lucy? Are you some kind of mage as well?"

"What?"

Natsu blinked. After he realized he was now in reality, he jumped up. "_What are you doing in my room? _How_ are you in my room?"_

"Erza told me where you were at. You left your sliding door open a crack, but it was big enough for Happy to sneak through. And speaking of Happy…" Lucy bent down and unzipped her bag. Happy jumped out and immediately traveled to the kitty litter.

Natsu's face twisted into confusion. "Happy…left?"

"And guess where he showed up."

"I-I didn't even realize…"

"It's alright. Just pay more attention next time. He's a smart cat. Oh, and before I go, I need to remind you that you should…clean."

Natsu looked at the mess around him and let out a nervous laugh. "I'll try. Thank you, Luce. You're amazing."

Lucy blushed and then left the way she came, but then quickly hid when she saw Juvia and the brown-haired girl who pushed her down the other day. They were too far away to hear what they were saying, so Lucy quickly fixed her hood and went another route back home.

* * *

><p><strong>Oh Natsu -_- <strong>

**I can't wait until I get further into this story AAAHH I'm not okay. :3 **

**Favorite? Follow? Reviews are always nice. **

**~Bl00dyshad0w**


	8. Gym

**So sorry it's been like, two days? xD Funny thought: I don't really remember anything that I put into my notebook that has the chapter outlines for this story, so when I started to get to the end of this chapter, I realized my notebook was gone. I seriously thought I left it at school and that some random person would pick it up, read through it, and question me _so _much (If they do figure out it was me). But I'm _pretty_ sure I left it in my locker. At least I hope so. **

**Aannnyways, I'm sure you don't want to read anymore rant xD**

* * *

><p><em>Recap:<em>

_Lucy blushed and then left the way she came, but then quickly hid when she saw Juvia and the brown-haired girl who pushed her down the other day. They were too far away to hear what they were saying, so Lucy quickly fixed her hood and went another route back home._

* * *

><p>Lucy woke up to a call from Virgo.<p>

"Hello?" asked the young blonde and she sat up slowly and ran her fingers through her messy hair.

"Lucy!" said Virgo. "You're sleeping in!"

"But there is no school today, Virgo."

"Oh, that's right. I keep forgetting you're in a school now. Anyways, I added more money into your card so you can go shopping for clothes or something. Go have fun."

"But Virgo, I already told you-"

"Hush! I don't want to hear another word about it! Now get up before you sleep the day away!"

Virgo hung up and Lucy fell back onto her bed with a load moan. "I don't wanna!"

About an hour later, Lucy was ready to leave. She dressed in a blue shirt, white pants, and black boots. "I guess I'll go out and buy more groceries since I'm missing a whole bunch. Maybe some clothes…"

Lucy went to the grocery store and grabbed a basket. She walked through the aisles and picked out the things that she wanted. "I'll make myself spaghetti tonight," she said to herself as she grabbed a jar of tomato sauce.

When her basket was good and full, she went to the register to check out her items. She placed her items on the belt and then waited for the cashier to finish scanning them.

Lucy didn't realize her cashier was Loke until after he finished scanning.

"And your total is-" Loke looked at Lucy and froze. "Y-Your total is…"

Lucy looked at the total on her screen and swiped her card. The card approved and the receipt printed out next to Loke. He tore it out and handed it to Lucy.

"Why did you help me that day," started Lucy as she took the receipt. "If you hate me so much?"

Loke glanced around, hoping to see any one of his co-workers so that they could help him out. "H-Hate you?"

"Yes."

"I don't hate you. I…"

"You what?"

"I'm afraid…"

Lucy looked at him with a bewildered expression. _Afraid?_ She thought. She grabbed her bags and then looked back at Loke who looked like he regretted what he just said.

"Don't ask me anything more," he said, almost sadly.

When Lucy got home, she quickly put the groceries away and then hopped onto the couch with her bag of chips. She turned on the television which automatically showed the news.

"Jude Heartfilia, one of the wealthiest men in Fiore, has made another fortune in the Waii Islalnds…"

_Does that mean…_ started Lucy as she stared at the screen but didn't listen to the voice. _He's coming back? To Virgo?_

Lucy stayed on her couch, scared. The following day, Lucy phoned the mansion.

"Hello?" came Jude's voice from the other line. "Who is this?"

Lucy's mouth was open. She had plenty of things to say to the man who has tortured her for years, but she was too scared to say anything.

"Hello?" repeated Jude. "Hey, I'm busy. Goodbye."

Their line cut.

School rolled by once again, and this time, Lucy had gym. She picked a gym locker far away from where the others were, but Levy and Erza quickly found her.

"Do you mind?" asked Erza as she started to undress.

Lucy shook her head, but noticed that her hands were shaking as she held onto the hem of her shirt.

"It's okay, Lucy," started Levy once her and Erza turned away. "We won't look."

Lucy changed as quickly as she could. She stopped wearing the bandage since the wound was good enough to heal itself, given that Lucy didn't somehow re-open it again. Her shorts revealed some nasty bruises on her legs, but most of them were barely even noticeable and were fading fast.

"Can we turn around now?" questioned Levy who slipped on her white gym shirt.

"Go ahead," replied Lucy as she started putting her hair up in a ponytail. "What kind of things do you do here in gym, anyways?"

"Today we'll be doing track and volleyball," responded Erza who slipped on her blue shorts and turned around with Levy. "But I'll tell coach Taurus that you will be exempting from the second one, considering your arm is still not done healing."

"Thank you."

"Come on, we better go!" said Levy as she tied on her bandanna. "Everyone is already leaving!"

"Are we going to be with the guys?" asked Lucy as the three walked out together.

"They're separate," replied Erza. "We rotate. We'll be doing track first while they do volleyball, and then we switch. Since there aren't that many students in our year, all the second years have gym together."

Lucy gulped. "All of them?"

In the locker room, Lucy did notice more girls that she saw weren't in the same class as her, but she didn't pay attention to it.

The trio joined the large group of girls who were gathered around coach Taurus, who Lucy quickly realized that he was the one who commented on her body the first day she arrived in Magnolia.

"Wonderful," Lucy sighed.

"Don't worry," assured Levy, immediately knowing what Lucy was thinking of. "Coach is strange and likes to comment on bodies a lot. Not just the students. He'll never touch you though, and he can be really nice. I heard that he use to sculpt nude women for a living and was making a lot of money, but decided to dedicate himself to teaching."

"But isn't that still sexual harassment or something?"

Erza grunted in disgust. "Ichiya is worse, yet I haven't been able to kick him out yet. There is no other fucking English teacher in all Fiore who can fill in his shoes, according to Makarov."

"Ladies! Take your places on the track!" announced the coach.

"Do you like running?" asked Levy as she led Lucy to the starting points.

"Not in particular."

"I'm a pretty fast runner," bragged Erza.

"Four laps makes a mile! Try finishing in less than fifteen minutes!" said Taurus. He blew his whistle and the girls were off. "Make use of your sexy bodies!"

Ahead of her, Lucy caught sight of Juvia running beside a couple of her friends.

"Look at Erza go!" said Levy.

Lucy tried to find Erza in the crowd, and was surprised to see that she was leading the pack when she started in the back next to Lucy and Levy. Erza was gaining more speed.

"Think we can catch up with her?" asked Levy, though her face gave away what she thought the answer would already be.

"We can try, I guess."

Lucy gained more speed. The daily runs around the mansion were finally coming into good use. Lucy mentally thanked Virgo for caring so much for her health.

"W-Wait up!" called Levy, though her voice was distant.

Lucy whizzed past student after student, and even quicker when she passed Juvia. After what happened between them previously, she didn't want to see the wrath written on Juvia's face.

"Whoa! Is that Lucy?" exclaimed a student. More joined in on the buzz, which made Lucy run even faster and made it to one lap.

"Keep going, Lucy!" cheered the coach once Lucy passed him. "Keep your sexy body moving!"

Lucy noticed that Erza was a half a lap away and was already mingled in with slower runners still trying to make it through their first lap. One of them was Levy. Not so long later, Lucy caught up to her.

"You're so _fast_!" Panted Levy. "And you're not even panting as hard as I am!"

"I've had a lot of practice."

"Go beat Erza!"

Levy cheered her friend on and Lucy left once again. Erza was still half a lap away and was already done with her second lap. Once Lucy finished her third lap, she finally caught up to the scarlet-haired woman who looked at her with surprise.

"No one has ever caught up with me before!" she exclaimed. A proud smile formed on her face. "I'm glad someone can."

The two finished their fourth lap at the same time and went to a grassed area to rest under the shade of a tree. It overlooked the volleyball area which was being coached by Coach Capricorn who liked to wear shades all the time. Even indoors.

Lucy watched in horror. The men were beasts. Whenever they hit the ball, Lucy thought that she saw it flame up from the impact. Especially when Natsu hit it.

"Amateurs," commented Erza with a scoff.

Lucy looked at her with wide eyes. "If you think they're amateurs, how well do you play volleyball?"

Erza crossed her arms and smiled. "I've beat the boys several times. Which would be every single time I've played with them."

Lucy recalled Natsu saying something about Erza being a monster.

"Time for the switch!" called the coach.

Once the girls got set up for volleyball, Erza explained Lucy's condition to the coach who said it was okay for her to sit out and watch. Lucy took a seat on the grass close to the court, but far back enough that she wouldn't get hit.

"Let's do this!" shouted Erza who was at the front of her team.

Closest to Lucy was Juvia's team. The blue haired woman looked at Lucy with hatred, causing the blonde to quickly look away, fearing she may turn to stone.

"_Fight!_" cried Taurus once he blew his whistle.

Erza's team had the ball first, and Levy served beautifully. It flew over the net and a member of the opposing team hit it back. Once Erza saw her opening, she jumped and smashed the volleyball into the ground.

Lucy could have sworn she felt the earth crack a bit.

"That's no fair!" called one of Lucy's classmates, Mini, who has a twin brother named Gemi. "Erza's too good at this! This isn't a competition, we're just practicing!"

"You'll learn better with the taste of defeat!" exclaimed Erza as she put her hands on her hips.

"The girl is right," started Taurus. "Erza, go with the boys."

The scarlet-haired woman scoffed and said, "Fine then," and then walked off towards the track.

The game began again. The ball transferred back and forth, and Lucy could already feel the strain in her neck from turning it too much.

Finally, the game was tied and Juvia was serving. She smirked.

Looking over at Levy and Cana who was doing an odd dance together, Lucy couldn't help but smile a bit. She frowned when they stopped and yelled, "Ball!"

Lucy turned her head, but was greeted with the rock hard volleyball. She fell back on the grass once the ball bounced off her head.

"Lucy!" she heard Natsu call.

Lucy stared up at the sky. She felt like she was seeing double of everything, which made her really dizzy. She could tell that people were standing above her, but she couldn't make out their faces.

"Give her some space!" growled the coach as he pushed some students back. "One of you, take her to the infirmary! Juvia, a word?"

"I'll take her!" announced Natsu.

Once Lucy's head quickly recovered, she took Natsu's hand that he was holding out. "You okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine. I don't need to go to the infirmary."

"You're going to the infirmary."

Lucy sighed in defeat and let Natsu support her as he led her to Miss Vermilion's office, which would be the second time that she has been there.

"You should be more careful," said Natsu once they got inside the cool building. "It could have been much worse. You could have gotten a broken nose or something. Those aren't fun."

"I'll keep that in mind. But I'm honestly fine. I've had-"

_Worse. _But Lucy decided not to say that.

"Had...what?"

Lucy shook her head. "Nevermind."

Natsu knocked on the door to Mavis's office. The small woman opened the door, looked at Lucy, and sighed.

"I'm fine!" Lucy said.

Natsu led her into the room. The window that Lucy jumped out of last time was shut, which made Lucy felt a bit guilty. What if Mavis liked the warm breeze blowing into her room?

"What happened?" asked Mavis as she watched Natsu set Lucy down.

"She got hit in the head during volleyball," replied Natsu.

"Let me see..." Mavis performed tests on Lucy to see if she had a concussion. She shined light into Lucy's eyes. "What's your name?"

"Lucy Heartfilia."

"How old are you?"

"Seventeen."

"What is the name of the boy who took you here?"

"Natsu."

"Well," started Mavis as she clicked the flashlight off. "You seem perfectly fine to me."

"See!" said Lucy, looking over at Natsu.

He shrugged. "Hey, I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"You two go back to class now," said Miss Vermilion with a smile.

Lucy hopped off the bed and followed Natsu out and the two went back to gym.

"Lucy!" called Gray as he ran up to her.

Juvia, who was punished by sitting on the side-lines and watching the rest play, noticed Gray. Her eyes followed him as he traveled to Lucy.

"Are you okay?" asked the raven-haired man with his tone dripping with concern.

"I'm fine," Lucy replied. She looked over at Juvia and saw her piercing narrow eyes penetrating her soul.

"Don't worry about her," said Gray. "I..._we_, won't let her hurt you. Or any of her minions, like Sophia, for that matter."

Lucy nodded her head but was not confident in his words. "Thank you."

After school, Lucy went to the club room with Erza and Levy by her side. Gray and Natsu were going to have to join them later since they still had detention.

"So what are we going to do?" asked Lucy as the three headed up the stairs.

"Sports festival stuff," replied Erza. She opened the door to the club room where everyone was waiting

"Welcome!" exclaimed Mirajane as she got up from the floor. There were a ton of poster papers on the ground, and Mira was already working on one. "I got the supplies like you asked!"

"Good, good," said Erza, stepping into the room with Levy and Lucy following behind her. "Thank you all for coming to help."

"I...um...I have to go soon," started Elfman nervously. "I'll do as much as I can, though."

"_Oh?"_ said Cana with a smirk. "Going to see Ever?"

"N-No!"

Cana laughed. "I wish you could see how red your face is right now!"

"Come help me make posters," said Mirajane as she looked at Lucy and Levy. She knelt back down and grabbed her pencil as the two girls accompanied her.

"What are you putting?" asked Levy.

"_Welcome to the 30th Fairy Tail High Sports Festival!"_

"That's going to be one long poster," said Lucy.

"It's a banner that will hang across the front gates. We need posters that say stuff like, _try your best!_ or something like that."

Lucy nodded her head and grabbed a red piece of paper from the large pile. Natsu and Gray came in.

"I thought you two had detention?" questioned Gajeel as he was helping Elfman make some ads.

"Yeah," responded Gray. "But Makarov let us off the hook for now since he wants us to help. He said that we didn't need to go to any more detentions until we do something stupid again."

"Thank God!" cried Natsu out of relief. "My back was starting to hurt will all that grunt work we were doing! Hey, what do you guys want us to do?" He spotted Lucy and was about to walk over when Lisanna quickly grabbed his arm.

"I-I need your help!" she said, louder than she intended to. Natsu shrugged and followed her.

"Ne," started Mirajane as she looked up at Levy. She whispered, _"How are you and Gajeel doing?_"

Levy blushed.

"_You really like him?_" whispered Lucy.

"_S-So what?_" stammered Levy as she stole a quick glance at Gajeel who laughed at something Elfman said. "_It's not like he's going to return my feelings or anything...I'm better off just keeping quiet."_

_"_Nonsense!" said Mira. "I say, go for it!"

Lucy looked over at Natsu and noticed that Lisanna was trying hard to get as close to him as possible. She felt awkward looking at the two, since she knew how she felt.

"Aren't they cute?" asked Mira with a smile. "Natsu is just too dense to see how much she likes him, but everyone knows it."

"Mirajane...you know Loke, right?"

"Yeah, we've known each other for a while."

"Do you know why he is...weird around me?"

Mirajane looked over at Levy who gave her a shrug. "Don't look at me," she said. "I have no clue. You've known him longer than I have."

Mirajane sighed. "I...think it something to do with his past. I'm not going to say anything more. He'd never forgive me if I did."

Lucy nodded her head and pushed the issue aside so she could concentrate on making posters.

Lucy decided to leave an hour after Elfman did because she wanted to go home to talk to Virgo. The school outside the club room seemed deserted. The sun was starting to set.

Walking home, Lucy saw a man in front of her who was walking funny. Thinking he was hurt, Lucy went to go help him.

"Sir, are you-"

She smelled the strong scent of alcohol and stepped back when she realized that he was drunk.

"Hey, there, pretty woman!" said the man. He stepped towards her.

Lucy took another step back and looked at her surroundings. There was no one around. Lucy's flight mode turned on and she started to run, but her wrist was grabbed.

"Come with me," the man slurred. "We'll have a _good_ time."

"Hey!" Lucy head snapped towards a figure running towards her. His white scarf flowed behind him. "Get your hands off of her!"

"N-Natsu!" Lucy screamed as the drunk let go of Lucy.

Natsu came up to them, ready to fight.

"Back off, buddy," said the man with his arms up. He staggered back. "I didn't mean any harm to the little lady. I just thought she needed company. I didn't know she had a boyfriend."

Natsu's eyes narrowed. "Leave. _Now._"

The drunk staggered away and Lucy sighed in relief.

Natsu turned to Lucy. _"_I'm so glad I got here when I did."

"How did you know I was going to be in trouble?"

"I don't know. When I heard that you left on your own, I just followed you. Come on, I'll walk you home."

The two walked in silence. Lucy stole glances at Natsu from time to time, and eventually got curious about something. "Why do you always wear that scarf?" she asked.

Natsu noticeably tensed.

"S-Sorry," said Lucy quickly.

"No, it's fine. My...dad gave me this scarf when I was young. I've been pretty attached to it."

Lucy nodded her head. She didn't want to ask any more questions since she figured Natsu had something he didn't want to reveal as well. Discovering this, Lucy's eyebrows knitted together.

_He looks so happy all the time, _she thought, clutching her bag tight. _Something bad couldn't have possibly happened._

"We're here," said Natsu as he stopped in front of Lucy's house.

Without thinking, Lucy turned and hugged Natsu, but quickly backed away. "Sorry...I don't know what came over me. I guess I'm just really grateful that you showed up and saved me from that guy."

Natsu stepped forward and embraced Lucy. "Be more careful, okay?" he said as he pulled away.

Lucy blushed. "I will. Thank you."

She watched as he left, and a small smile formed on her face.

* * *

><p><strong>I'm pretty sure I didn't write that as the ending in my notebook, but I'll make up for it next chapter<strong>

**Noooteboook! I'll never leave you alone agaaain! **

**Fav? Follow? Reviews are always nice!**

**~Bl00dyshad0w**

**Update: So yeah...now that I got my notebook back, I had to change the ending xD I'm sorry, I feel like a jerk. There was nothing to change, actually. I just added more to it.**

**Anyways...**


	9. Melodic Laugh

**If you don't know already, I had to change the ending to the previous chapter. I just deleted a few lines and then added onto the story. Sorry, I'm an idiot and forgot my important notebook in my locker T_T**

**I'm so happy this story is turning out so well! *Squeels* **

* * *

><p><em>Recap:<em>

_Natsu stepped forward and embraced Lucy. "Be more careful, okay?" he said as he pulled away._

_Lucy blushed. "I will. Thank you."_

_She watched as he left, and a small smile formed on her face._

* * *

><p>Day after day has passed. Lucy continued to go to the Fairy Tail club after school whenever they had a meeting. Natsu would glance at her from time to time and smile when he saw how more open she has become. It was a big step forward for her.<p>

As Lisanna was talking to him about basketball, Natsu turned his head when he heard a sweet, melodic laugh that he has never heard before. His face brightened when he saw Lucy smile at something Levy said.

Lisanna stopped talking when she realized she was only talking to herself. She looked back and forth between Natsu and Lucy and pouted. "Ne, Natsu?" she said, getting the attention from him. "I need someone to practice basketball with me before the big game. Will you come with me to the gym?"

Natsu smiled. "Sure, I need a break anyways."

The two announced their departure and headed to the gymnasium. It was a weekend, so no one would be around, but Lisanna had special access to the storage room.

"Here," she said, passing a ball to Natsu as they left the storage. Natsu dribbled the ball until they got to the center of the court.

"Ready to lose?" asked Natsu with a smirk. He spun the ball on his index finger.

Lisanna grabbed the ball away from him and smiled. "Stop trying to hide your shame! Out of the hundreds of times that we have played together, you've only won a handful of them!"

"That's, uh…because I let you win."

Lisanna rolled her eyes and began dribbling. "First person to make a shot five times wins. If I win, I get to tell you something. If you win, you get to buy me ice cream later."

"I feel like this isn't in my favor. Shouldn't it be, if I win, you do something for _me_ and if you win, I do something for _you?_"

Lisanna sighed. "It's a promise I made to myself just now. So I won't lose."

Natsu laughed evilly as he eyed the ball. "We'll see about that!" Natsu lunged to steal the ball away but Lisanna turned and started dribbling towards the basket. Nastu was by her in an instant. "Don't think you can get away with that so easily!"

Lisanna stopped so her opponent was in front of her. Natsu was hunched down into a guarding stance, ready to pounce when the time was right. Lisanna faked right and Natsu fell for it. She spun around gracefully, bent her knees, aimed the ball, and then made the shot. It went in perfectly.

"Yes!" she exclaimed as she punched her fist into the air. "That's one for me!"

Natsu grunted and grabbed the ball. "I'll be the ball handler this time!" The two went back to center circle. Lisanna got into guarding position while Natsu preformed a crossover dribble.

"Stop stalling," commented Lisanna with a smirk.

Natsu looked past his opponent's shoulder and said, "Hey, Mirajane!"

Lisanna quickly turned around to see no one there as Natsu took his shot. It circled around the ring a couple times until it dropped into the basket. He smiled widely.

"Natsu…" growled Lisanna as she turned around. "You dirty cheater!"

"Sorry, I thought I saw your sister. Figment of my imagination. Sorry!"

The two continued the game until they were tied four to four. Lisanna started getting scared.

_I don't know if I'll gather up the courage to do this again if I lose…_ She thought with a bite of her lip.

"Well?" started Natsu. "What are you waiting for?"

Lisanna started dribbling. Everything happened in a blur, and before she knew it, she scored.

"Dammit!" shouted Natsu, kicking the floor. "I want a rematch!"

"Ne…" Lisanna had her back turned. She didn't want Natsu to see how red her face was. "I have to tell you something…"

Natsu picked up the ball and spun it around his finger. "What's up?"

"I-I've been feeling this way for a while. And by a while, I mean a _really_ long time. You see, I-"

The door to the gym opened and Gray stepped through. Lisanna cursed under her breath.

"Yo!" he said, his voice echoing throughout the spacious room. "Levy brought some cake! I thought you guys might want to know before everyone else eats it all up. Especially Gajeel."

"Well," started Lisanna as she took the ball away from Natsu to put it in the storage. "At least it wasn't Cana who brought the cake."

"We'll see you there, then, Lisanna!" said Natsu as he ran towards Gray. "If Gajeel eats all the cake, he's gonna pay!"

Back at the club room, Natsu slammed the door open. He eyed the empty cake plate, and then Gajeel. "You…" he growled.

"I have more cake, don't worry!" exclaimed Levy as she pulled out another plate of cake from a plastic bag. She removed the plastic cover and the sweet vanilla scent filled the air.

"Don't blame me!" growled Gajeel as he shot up from his chair. "I only had one piece!"

"I bet you gobbled it up!"

"Here we go again…" murmured Gray, who was shirtless. Lucy saw this and stared wide-eyed. Her face slowly heated up.

Natsu saw Lucy's reaction and quickly turned his anger towards Gray. "Put your shirt on, naked man!"

"I'm not naked!" yelled Gray.

"I say he should keep his shirt off!" proposed Cana with a raise of her hand. Elfman put it down for her.

Gray picked up his shirt and buttoned it back on. He looked at Natsu and _tsked._

"Oh no…" said Levy. "Shit is about to go down now!"

Lucy looked at Levy with surprise but quickly looked back at the boys. Natsu's fists where in a tight ball. His right eye started twitching. "What was that, Gray?"

Gray smirked. "Did I say something?"

"Naked man!" he lunged at Gray.

Gray dodged, which caused Natsu's face to meet with cake. Not just any cake. Erza's cake. Natsu didn't bother to wipe his face as he backed away in fear.

"_This is bad…_" whispered Mirajane as she pressed herself close to the floor. "_Erza really likes her cake!_"

Lucy noticed all the other students taking shelter at different parts of the room.

A dark aura swirled around Erza. She bent her metal fork with one hand until it broke in half. The top portion jumped off the desk and landed at Natsu's feet.

"You…" she growled as she slowly stood up. She turned her head towards Natsu and looked at him with blank eyes. "You ruined my _cake!_"

"I-I-I-I-I'm so sorry, Erza!" stammered Natsu. "I didn't mean to! I swear! It's Gray's fault for dodging!"

"Hey!" exclaimed Gray.

"_You die now!_" Erza ran towards Natsu.

The pink haired man ran towards the door with his face twisted in terror. "_I don't want to die yet!_"

The door opened and Lisanna stepped through. Looking up, she saw Natsu running towards her. Confused, she looked behind him and screamed.

"Lisanna!" shouted Natsu. He hid behind her and grabbed her shoulders. "Erza! Please take this sacrifice!"

"_W-What?"_ cried Lisanna.

Erza stopped running and sighed. She took Lisanna's wrist and said, "This will do. Come, Lisanna!"

Natsu grinned as he watched Erza drag off a hysteric Lisanna.

"Where is she taking her?" asked Lucy.

Mirajane got up off the floor and patted the dirt off her short skirt. "Erza has this…_obsession _with dressing people up. Mainly Levy and Lisanna. Make sure you never give her that chance, Lucy, or you will never see the end of it."

Levy cringed at a terrible memory.

Everyone continued working like nothing happened, but Natsu joined Lucy's group after he cleaned his face.

"Natsu, what are you doing?" asked Levy.

Natsu turned to Lucy. "Why did the cookie go to the hospital?"

Lucy looked around to see everyone looking their way, curious. "Uh…why?"

"Because he felt…" Natsu held back a laugh. "_Crumby."_

"Ha!" exclaimed Cana as she slapped her leg a couple times. "Good one!"

No one else laughed.

Natsu tried again. "No good? Okay. Why was the baby strawberry crying?"

Lucy blinked at few times.

"Because his mom and dad were in a…_Pfft…Jam!_"

Cana was the only one who laughed.

"Okay, okay," said Natsu. "One more, one more. What do you call a fake noodle?"

Natsu paused, waiting for a response but gave up. "An _impasta!_"

Cana and Natsu laughed together. Gajeel was fighting with himself as he forced a frown, but his mouth resisted and wanted to turn upwards.

"Oi, flame-brain," said Gray. "Please stop while you're ahead. This is just sad."

"Oh come on!" cried Natsu. "The _impasta_ one was pretty funny! Right, Luce?" he turned to Lucy expectantly. Not knowing what to do, she shrugged.

Levy carried her plate of cake towards Gajeel whose back was towards her. She dipped her finger into the vanilla frosting and said, "Hey, Gajeel!"

The largely built man turned around. Levy swiped her frosted finger across his nose. He stood there, stunned, as the blue haired girl laughed. "Just your color!" she said.

_They would make a great couple_, thought Lucy. She watched as Gajeel got his revenge by swiping frosting on Levy's face as well.

Looking over a few feet, Lucy noticed Elfman texting wildly. Mirajane leaned towards Lucy and said, "He's texting Evergreen."

"Who is Evergreen? Is she an upperclassman?"

Mira laughed. "No. She goes to a wealthy school on the opposite side of Magnolia. I heard from Elfman that we will be having transfer students from there in the near future. One of them is going to be Ever. I haven't met her yet, but I'm sure she's nice."

"Speaking of texting," started Cana as she held her phone out. "Let's get Lucy's number!"

"Y-You're really okay with that?" asked Lucy as she hesitantly brought her phone from her pocket.

"Of course!" said Mirajane.

Lucy got everyone's number, except for Gajeel who didn't have a phone. She kept scrolling up and down through her contacts, amazed she had more than one number.

"I'll give you Erza's too," said Mira as she put the number in. "She's the student council president _and_ our club leader, after all."

"Thank you. I have to go home now, though. Thanks for the cake."

"Anytime!" said Levy.

Lucy looked at Natsu who held a look of worry. "It's the busiest time of the weekend. There are going to be plenty of people out shopping and stuff. I'll be fine."

"What happened?" asked Levy with a concerned tone.

Natsu kept looking at Lucy. "You sure?"

Lucy got up and grabbed her bag. "Yeah! Don't worry. I'll…text you when I get home, I guess."

"What happened?" repeated Levy. Mirajane smacked her arm.

"A drunk man approached me some time ago, but nothing happened," said Lucy.

"A drunk man?" questioned Levy. "Serious?"

"Nothing happened my ass," muttered Natsu. "I should have punched him into oblivion."

"Yeah, you should have!" yelled Gray. "Who is this guy! I'll find him!"

"I really have to go," said Lucy nervously as she headed for the door. "Bye."

Lucy let out a sigh as she stood at the front gates. "What a day." She took a detour and stopped by the stands to get a snack to go, but she saw Loke. He was arguing with the manager of the hamburger stand.

"Just take it back!" said Loke.

"I made it, you pay it!" responded the man on the other side. "You can't just tell me to make a burger and then expect to get it for free!"

"I told you already! I don't know where my wallet is!"

"You're going to pay for it somehow!"

"Um…" Lucy interrupted. She held out cash to the manager. "Is this enough?"

The manager yanked it out of her hands and eyed Loke. "You got lucky, punk. Make sure it doesn't happen again. Especially my stand."

"Don't worry," growled Loke. "I'm not going back to a place with terrible service."

The manager looked like he was about to explode, so Lucy followed Loke who was already walking away. He bit into his sandwich angrily.

"You didn't have to help me!" yelled Loke once the two were away from the crowd.

"Just returning the favor."

"Good. Now you can leave me alone."

"Wait!" Loke stopped and Lucy looked down nervously. "Please tell me why you're scared of me so I can put my mind at ease."

"Why should I tell you something that personal when you don't tell others anything? How do I even know I can trust you?"

Lucy opened her mouth but then quickly closed it. Loke was right, but he still stood there, looking out towards the distance.

"Karen Lilica…" he said quietly, but was loud enough for Lucy to hear.

"The name on your ring?"

Loke's hands balled into fists. "She raised me."

"Is she your mother?"

Loke let out, "_Ha!_" causing Lucy to jump a bit. She followed him when he walked towards the railing and leaned against it. "No blood ties. She took care of me after my parents died when I was just three. I didn't have any other family to go to, so she became my legal guardian."

Lucy waited for Loke to continue.

"At the age of ten, Karen started introducing me to sex."

Lucy's mouth dropped. She couldn't find any words, yet her head was swarming with questions.

"I had to call her _Mistress_ Karen. I couldn't do anything without asking for her permission. Please, Mistress Karen, may I use the restroom? _Disgusting._ I was submissive. When I was fourteen, she involved a younger girl into the mix. I couldn't stand and watch as Karen let these men touch this girl, so I gathered up my courage and went to the police. The men, and Karen, were sent to prison. A few weeks later, Karen killed herself by drinking rubbing alcohol."

Lucy let the heavy air wash over them. She didn't say a word until sometime later when an important question came to mind. "Thank you for telling me, Loke. That must have been difficult. But…that aside, why does this involve me?"

"Karen was blonde before she started dying her hair green. She also has brown eyes. Just like yours."

Loke turned and quickly walked away. Lucy watched him go.

Continuing home, Lucy caught sight of Juvia sitting down on a bench by herself. She seemed to be staring blankly at nothing. There was no other way around without being noticed, so Lucy walked forward.

"You make me mad," said Juvia once Lucy got close. "He's supposed to be mine…"

Lucy froze, worried that Juvia might jump at her. As quickly as a scowl formed on Juvia's face, she sighed and closed her eyes. "I don't even have enough energy to yell at you. Just leave."

Lucy nodded her head and quickly headed off, sighing in relief. When she got home, she remembered to text Natsu that she arrived safely.

* * *

><p><strong>Ahm...Fifty Shades, anyone? :o <strong>

**Fav...Follow...Reviews are nice too!**

**~Bl00dyshad0w**


	10. Sports!

**Aw man I'm so late on this -_- School, health problems, you know how it is.**

**WELL. At least I posted something on valentine's day! **

**Bit boring though. I'm not a sports person.**

* * *

><p><em>Recap:<em>

_Lucy froze, worried that Juvia might jump at her. As quickly as a scowl formed on Juvia's face, she sighed and closed her eyes. "I don't even have enough energy to yell at you. Just leave."_

_Lucy nodded her head and quickly headed off, sighing in relief. When she got home, she remembered to text Natsu that she arrived safely._

* * *

><p>Time flew by. Even though Lucy was getting used to being around company, she felt a bit lonely since she couldn't get into contact with Virgo as much. It was her dad who usually picked up the phone.<p>

But the Sports Festival finally arrived. Lucy was going to be busy for a few days. Everyone was encouraged to join at least one, so Lucy, along with plenty of other people, joined track. Because of Levy, Lucy was forced into long jumping, only to find out that Levy wasn't even in it.

"I hope you've all been preparing!" shouted Gildarts as he tied a white sash around his head. Cana came around and handed everyone a sash as well. "We're going to be going up against Wakabe and Macao's class! We are _not_ going to lose! Losing is _not _an option! Do not bring this team down! Everyone with me?!" Gildarts got on top of his desk and threw his hands up in the air, waiting for his class to roar.

"What about the other teams?" asked Mini.

"No one cares about them!" continued Gildarts as he got off his desk. "The schedule of the sports is posted literally everywhere, so you shouldn't have trouble figuring out what's happening. The first event will be martial arts, so everyone, don't worry! We've got Erza on that!"

"And me!" exclaimed Natsu with a raise of his hand.

Lucy looked over at Erza's empty seat and wondered where she was.

"Alright, student!" said Gildarts. "You better be on time for the events! I'll meet you all outside for the opening ceremony!"

Everyone got up from their seats and noisily made their way downstairs. Lucy stuck with Levy. "Where is Erza?" Lucy asked.

"Since she is the student council president, she has to make a little speech to the school."

"Erza is amazing," Lucy said with awe.

"Let's sit together, Lucy!" exclaimed Natsu, coming out of nowhere.

"Gray and Gajeel are going to be lonely without you," said Levy as she hopped down to the bottom of the stairs.

"No we won't," said Gray, also coming out of nowhere. "Because we'll also be sitting by you guys."

Levy pouted. "And here I thought I was going to have Lucy all to myself!"

Outside, the chairs that the Fairy Tail Guild set up were being occupied by student after student. The team spent hours setting up the school for this moment.

"Hurry!" started Levy. "Before all the chairs get taken! I don't want to stand up the whole entire time!"

Levy led Lucy and the three boys to an empty row and they quickly took their seats. Levy was on the edge, followed by Lucy, Natsu, Gajeel, and then Gray.

"Why the hell am I all the way over here?" growled Gray as he crossed his arms.

Natsu turned towards him and stuck his tongue out.

"Good Morning, Fairy Tail High students!" exclaimed Marakov as he stood on top of the platform. All the students hushed as they listened to their principal. "Today is the long awaited Fairy Tail High sports festival!"

The crowd cheered. Makarov continued.

"I am very proud to be the principal of such hard working students. Remember, this is just for fun! Don't beat yourself or others for losing! Now I'll turn the time over to our student council-"

Erza snatched the microphone from him. "Student council president speaking! Forget what Makarov just said! Win, win, _win_! Give it your _all!_"

Students cheered loudly, and half of the body stood up with their fists in the air.

"You can stop when you're _dead!_"

Coach Taurus was heard in the background. "_And make use of your sexy bodies!_"

Erza placed her hands on her hips. "Let the games..._begin!_"

"What's the first event again?" asked Lucy as she got up with the rest of the dispersing crowd.

"Martial arts," said Natsu with a grin. "And I'm in it!"

"Me too," said Gajeel.

"So am I," said Gray. "But since Erza is in it, we'll most likely win."

"Are there a lot of people participating?" asked Lucy.

"Levy," started Gajeel. "You should explain how it works. I'm still not even sure since I never pay attention."

"Well…" pondered Levy as the four made their way to the gym. "If more people from the same class joins a competition, then their chances are of scoring their team points are higher. Only first, second, and third get points. Fifty points, thirty points, and ten points. But those only count for some competitions that have more than two teams competing against each other. If there are too many participants who are from one class, then other teachers have to force their students to join or eliminate some. Track is always on the second day because there are so many participants and the event takes a long time. That's basically it. Third years always try the hardest since it's their last year here, but I know that we are definitely going to win this year!" Levy punched the air as they neared the gym. Gray, Natsu, and Gajeel left to quickly get ready. They were supposed to change into something comfortable to move in.

Lucy felt like her head was spinning from all the confusing information.

Once the girls stepped into the room, screams, shouts, and applause were heard.

"Yeah! Go Erza!"

"I love you, Erza!"

"Mirajane is the best!"

"_Mirajane!_"

Once the two girls got a better view, they saw Erza and Mirajane in their tank tops and sweat pants. The two were looking at each other, but it wasn't in a friendly way. It was scary.

The sweet aura that Mirajane had was gone, and it was replaced with a killer's intent.

"I didn't know Mirajane…" started Lucy as she continued to stare curiously.

"Erza is another one of Mirajane's childhood friends," started Levy. "When Mira was younger, she was uncontrollable. People called her _Mira the Terrible_ because of how much she got into trouble. She picked fights, stole, lied, and etcetera. Once Erza showed up, Mira finally found herself a worthy opponent. Not even our hot blooded Natsu could withstand Mira's wrath. She started calming down on her final year of middle school."

"Why did Mirajane act like that before?"

Levy bit her lip. "Her and her siblings...had family problems. Mira was practically the only one taking care of her little siblings."

More participants started to come in.

"Are they going to separate the boys and the girls?" asked Lucy.

Levy chuckled. "Yeah. There's going to be one winner from the boys and the girls, but we all know that the boy's side doesn't stand a chance with some of the best fighters in the school in our class. As for the girls...it's going to be a tough battle between Erza and Mirajane. Erza couldn't participate last year because of student council business, and it made her sad since she looked forward to it."

The girls and the boys split into two. In the back of the gym, there was a large whiteboard with an equally large tournament bracket. The freshmen were going to start first.

_They're all so skilled,_ thought Lucy in awe.

Lucy didn't know how long it was before Levy started talking again since she was so engrossed in the fights.

"I bet everyone is patiently waiting for Erza and Mirajane," said Levy as she clapped along with everyone else. "I can't wait! This is going to be so awesome! _Oh_, look! It's over already!"

"Our class is going to fight the other second years?"

"Yes! It's not going to be much of a fight though."

Levy was right. Erza was up against a girl from Macao's class. She was knocked out of the ring a second after they were told to start. It seemed the same way on the boy's side.

Coach Capricorn walked up to the boys and told them something inaudible. A moment later, Natsu raised his hand. "I will fight for Gildart's class!"

Gajeel pushed him. "Like hell you will! I'll do it!"

"You two are way too thick headed anyways. I'll do it," said Gray as he crossed his arms.

Levy leaned towards Lucy. "It seems like too many boys from our class won and Capricorn needs to eliminate someone."

"I just need two!" said Capricorn. "We'll settle this over straws!" The coach brought out a few straws out of nowhere and held them out. "Choose wisely."

The three boys each grabbed hold of a straw and pulled. Natsu and Gray cheered while Gajeel''s eye twitched. He got the short straw.

"Oh no…" pouted Levy. "I was really hoping to see him fight…"

Capricorn patted Gajeel's shoulder.

Levy cupped her hands around her mouth. "_Gajeeel! Come over here!"_ She started waving her hands around to get Gajeel's attention. He looked at her through the crowd and gave her a small smile.

Once Gajeel stood next to the two girls, he grunted. "I always lose at that game."

The second years made way for the third years, and all eyes were on Mirajane. She seemed like her average self without Erza standing next to her. Lucy felt like the upperclassman was out of place, since she seemed way too sweet to be in a fight.

Mirajane was up against a girl named Kagura. Lucy's seen her around school before and noticed that she always looked expressionless. Kagura's long black hair was fashioned with a white headband, and her narrow brown eyes were wide open and focused.

"This is going to be interesting," started Levy. "Kagura is a really good fighter as well. I'm not sure if she can match Mirajane, though…"

"Kagura is creepy," commented Gajeel. "I don't think I've seen her talk to anyone before."

The fight started. It was almost like someone flipped Mirajane's switch, and she was back to the way she was earlier. Evil aura and all.

Mira threw her fist at her opponent, but Kagura gracefully side-stepped. Mira continued throwing hit after hit, but Kagura kept dodging. Finally, the raven haired girl started attacking. Her face still looked as impassive as ever.

"I can tell you're getting tired," said Mirajane with a smirk as she crouched down for a sweep kick.

Kagura was standing an inch by the circle of red tape and didn't have time to move. Mira's sweep kick sent her to the ground, past the tape.

"Go Mira!" shouted Levy. Everyone threw their hands up and cheered.

As Mira was enjoying the spotlight, Lucy centered in on Kagura. Her face showed no sign of defeat as she got up and dusted her clothes off. She walked away from the gym floor, and Lucy pushed her to the side of her mind.

"Gray is up against Lyon…" said Gajeel.

Lucy's eyes widened. "Uh-Oh…"

As Natsu and Erza wiped out their opponents, Gray and Lyon were still at it. It seemed as though their strength was equally match and they were both noticeably breathing heavily.

"I love you, Gray!" cried Juvia from somewhere in the crowd.

Lyon looked crushed. Whatever energy left him came back, and he attacked harder and faster. Gray couldn't keep up and was eventually kicked out of the circle. The silver haired male looked over at Juvia as he panted.

Juvia looked down.

It was Natsu's turn to go up against the victor, but Lyon forfeited.

Natsu got mad and stomped his foot like a little child as he ordered Lyon to come back and fight him, but he was ignored.

"White team gets fifty points," said Capricorn. Natsu continued to pout.

Finally, the fight that everyone has been waiting for. Erza and Mirajane stepped inside their circle.

"Erza is definitely going to win!"

"No way. Mirajane is going to kick her ass."

Bets were being placed throughout the gym. Even the teachers were joining in.

The fight started, but Lucy already had trouble keeping up. It seemed like their limbs were blurred with how fast they were, and Lucy was surprised they still had so much energy.

"Give up!" cried Mirajane. "You don't stand a chance!"

"I've kicked your ass so many times in the past. What makes you think I can't do it again?" questioned Erza, throwing a punch.

"You haven't been practicing as much, have you?" Mirajane grabbed her wrist. "Been spending too much time with _him?_" Erza stiffened. Seeing her window of opportunity, Mirajane tossed Erza out of the circle.

The whole room was silent.

After a few moments, Capricorn cleared his throat and said, "Green team gets fifty points!"

"What the hell just happened…" questioned Gajeel. They all watched as Erza and Mirajane stared at each other before they both took off to get changed. Some students helped set up for basketball.

"Gajeel and I have to help with some food stalls now," said Levy, turning to Lucy. "Will you be okay? I'm sure Gray and or Natsu will join you in a moment."

Lucy smiled and nodded her head. Once she was alone, she noticed Lisanna get together with her team dressed in blue jerseys. Only two classes were participating in basketball, which made it much easier for scoring. Lucy knew that there were a couple of events going on at the same time as basketball, but she didn't want to move from her spot.

"Lucy!"

Said woman turned her head to see Natsu jogging up to her. When he got to Lucy she said, "Congratulations on winning."

Natsu scoffed. "Winning by default is not really winning. That damn Lyon. I was really hoping for a good fight. I'm just surprised Erza lost quickly."

"Yeah...do you know what happened?"

"I have no clue. It's no use trying to find her for the rest of the day, though. Student council business. She's just lucky that she at least got to participate in something."

The game started. Lisanna dribbled the ball and protected it from the person behind her. She quickly passed the ball to one of her team members and then looked at Natsu and Lucy.

This kept happening throughout the game, which made Lucy uncomfortable. She was sure Lisanna didn't like her being so close to her crush, so while Natsu was busy cheering on Lisanna, she quietly walked away.

"I wonder where I should go before long jump starts," Lucy questioned herself. She noticed a large group of people gathered around the large school swimming pool and decided to give it a look herself.

On top of one of the diving boards, Lucy saw Gray in his white swim cap and dark swim trunks. People cheered for him as he got into his diving position. The coach shot the starting pistol into the air and all the males dove gracefully into the water.

_He's fast!_ thought Lucy. In no time at all, he was well ahead of the pack.

"Fifty for white, thirty for orange, and ten for yellow!" cried the swimming coach.

Gray pulled himself out of the water and the girls nearly fainted. Lucy's face boiled from heat. The coach, who was also a woman, had a flushed face as well. "Fullbuster! Get your trunks!" she cried.

Gray turned around towards the pool, which made the girls on the other side blush. He saw his black swim trunks floating on top of the water.

After everyone recovered from the incident, the girls stepped up to the diving boards. One of them was Juvia.

"I'll win for you, Gray!" she cried as she fastened her goggles on her face. The girl next to her was tall and had long light blue hair. She scoffed at Juvia as she fastened her goggles on as well.

The starting pistol was shot once again and the girls were in the water in an instant. It seemed to Lucy that Juvia and the girl next to her were somehow part of the water itself.

"Yeah, Aquarius!" shouted a male in the crowd. He had dark skin and half of his hair was red while the other side was white.

Aquarius sped up, as if she was holding back the entire time. Lap after lap, Juvia tried to keep up, but she wasn't able to finish first.

"Fifty for green, thirty for blue, and ten for purple!" cried the coach.

Lucy walked up to the wall to read the schedule. Long jump would be starting soon and she needed to get to the field. She jogged the way there and saw Elfman and Lisanna.

"Hey, Lucy!" said Elfman as he waved her over.

"How was basketball?" Lucy asked Lisanna.

The underclassman smiled and said while throwing her hands in the air, "We won!"

"That's not much of a surprise," commented Elfman as he rubbed his sister's head. "She's an amazing basketball player.

"How about weight lifting?" asked Lisanna.

"I'm a man. I won because of my manliness."

"Students!" called Coach Taurus. "Line your sexy bodies up behind the red tape!"

Lisanna quickly stood at the front, ready for the coach's signal. When it was given, she sprinted as fast as she could, jumped, and then landed on the sand.

"Six point seven meters!" shouted the coach's assistant. "Excellent!"

After raking the sand, it was Elfman's turn. "Wish me luck!" he said to Lucy who stood behind him.

Instead of a graceful landing, like one that Lisanna pulled off, Elfman somehow landed on his face.

"Let it count!" said Taurus.

The assistant measured the faceplant. "Five meters!"

Lucy breathed in deeply as she waited for the sand to be raked. She felt nervous, but when she heard the signal, her legs moved on their own. After jumping in the air, she felt like everything was happening in slow motion. She has never jumped so high before, and loved the feeling of cutting through the wind. Lucy dropped on the soft sand and then quickly moved out of the way.

"Seven meters!" said the assistant. "Even better than Lisanna's!"

Lisanna pouted.

Lucy quickly left the event without knowing who won. She bought herself a drink from the vending machine and moved herself to an unoccupied room.

"This day is almost done," she sighed happily. She was tired, even though she only participated in one sport. Lucy opened the tab to her soda and it let out a loud hissing noise.

Footsteps came into the room. Lucy turned around to see the brown haired girl named Sophia. They looked at each other in surprise until Sophia narrowed her eyes.

"_You,_" she growled.

Lucy gulped. Everyone was outside, so there would be no witnesses around when Sophia drives a knife into her heart.

All off a sudden, Sophia's eyes softened and then narrowed just as quickly. "You better watch yourself tomorrow, Blondie."

Lucy shivered as she watched Sophie exit the room. Gajeel walked by a few moments later, and did a double take when he noticed Lucy from the corner of his eyes.

"There you are!" he said. "Levy sent me to find you. Cana is doing gymnastics and we thought you would be interested to see it."

"Cana? Gymnastics? Seriously?"

"I know, right? Come on, you can drink your soda when we get there."

The two made their way back to the gym where the mats were set up. The gymnasts were at one side of the room stretching. Except for Cana. She was looking around for someone.

Levy found Gajeel and Lucy. "There you guys are!" she exclaimed. "I was looking everywhere! They're just about to start their floor routines!"

One of the girls stepped onto one of the corners of the mat and waited for the music to play. When the first beat was heard, she started sprinting. She jumped and then started doing flips to the other end of the mat where she struck a pose.

"Amazing!" exclaimed Lucy.

The beat went on, as did the girl as she did flips and mixed in a few dance moves here and there. Girl after girl performed until Cana finally stepped forward.

Lucy observed her. Cana's brows knitted together as she looked down. "Why does she look so...sad?"

"I don't know…" responded Levy. "Maybe she doesn't want to perform…"

Cana regained her composure and stood up straight in her white leotard. Slow music started playing, and Cana started moving. She was graceful and poised, which surprised Lucy. Cana would always be hunched over in class and showed no sign of grace, but when she stepped onto the mat, she was a completely different person.

"It's like she's doing ballet!" exclaimed Levy as she put her hands on her cheeks. "She looks so beautiful!"

Cana danced to the center when she heard Gildarts yell her name.

"_Cana! You got this!_"

Cana's head snapped towards Gildarts as she posed for the long beat. She smiled. Then, the beat suddenly became fast, and Cana was flying across the mat. It was almost hard to keep up with how fast she was moving, and here and there she would pose. When she finished, everyone was screaming her name.

After the judges decided the winners, they passed it onto the coach who was at the pool earlier.

"Ten points to green, thirty points to red, and fifty points...to white!"

Lucy threw her hands up and cheered with Levy. "Cana's the best!" they cried.

As students helped with putting stuff away, Levy asked Lucy, "Are you going to come watch volleyball? I'm playing!"

The three walked outside where four different nets were set up, far enough from each other so that it wouldn't be disrupted by another group. Levy ran over to one with other white team students.

"We could win this easily if Erza was here. Lisanna's team is probably going to dominate," said Gajeel, looking at the other team.

"Don't say that," said Lucy. "Levy is a good player."

"Yeah…" Gajeel looked at Levy, and Lucy saw a bit of sadness in his eyes.

White team was up against the orange team. There was a girl there who had curly pink hair and pale skin. When the ball came to her, she whacked it over the net. Orange scored.

"Aires normally doesn't do sports," started Gajeel. "But she's insanely good at volleyball. Not as good as Erza, but probably good enough to win."

Lucy watched as the white team struggled to keep up with the ball. Two girls collided and bumped heads, which caused them to visit Mavis.

"Orange team wins this match!" said Coach Capricorn. "Now it's orange against blue!"

Levy walked up to Gajeel and Lucy in defeat. "We totally sucked."

"You tried your best," comforted Lucy.

"But it wasn't good enough!"

"Yes it is," said Gajeel. "Win or lose, you still did an amazing job."

Levy looked up at him with a smile. "Being nice doesn't fit in with your appearance, Gajeel."

"Shut up!"

Lucy checked the time on her phone. "Isn't this pretty much one of the last events? Are we allowed to go home now?"

"Attention!" came Makarov from the speakers. A painful feedback followed. "Thank you all for your participation in today's sports festival! We'll see you again tomorrow for track! Have a wonderful evening!"

"You can't leave," said Gajeel. "You're part of the club, which means we have to stay and help clean up."

Lucy grunted.

After what seemed like years, Lucy finally picked up the last piece of trash. Everyone but some of the Fairy Tail Guild members who went home. Sighing, she did so as well, hoping that no one drunk would approach her again. She held onto her house keys in her pocket, just in case.

As she was walking, Lucy spotted a pink haired man with a familiar white scarf leaning against the railings overlooking the canal. She approached him. He was wearing a large backpack.

"N-Natsu?" she stammered. He turned to her. "Where have you been? I haven't seen you since the basketball tournament…"

"I had to leave early," he responded as he continued to look out into the distance. "I was called back into the apartments. The landlady found out about Happy and now…"

"She kicked you out?"

Natsu nodded his head.

"What about Happy?"

"He's in my bag. I'm supposed to come back tomorrow to get the rest of my things, but I don't even have a place to stay the night."

"Well...what about Gray? Can you stay with him?"

Natsu sighed. "The guys I know who would let me stay with them either live in the student apartments or live with their rich parents who hate me. I guess this is okay...It's not the first time that I've slept outdoors before."

Lucy bit her lip. _You can sleep over at my house. I have two extra rooms._ Was what she wanted to say, but after what happened with Lyon, it didn't come out. She then started to question what kind of life Natsu had.

"Don't feel bad," started Natsu as he looked at Lucy with a smile. "It will be okay."

His smile was so genuine that it made Lucy's eyes water. He was about to ask what was wrong when she grabbed his wrist and started running.

"Where are you taking me?" questioned Natsu. Lucy didn't respond. When they stopped in front of her house, Natsu sighed. "Luce, I would never do anything bad to you, but I don't think this is a good idea."

"Natsu, I'm not going to let you sleep out in the streets where there are drunks and crazy people roaming around at night. Just...think of it as a way of protecting me. Just in case anyone decides to break in."

Natsu smiled. "Thank you, Lucy."

* * *

><p><strong>...At least it's Natsu this time! :3 But uuuugh so much sports. Whhhyy. *Cries in a corner* <strong>

**I'm sure a lot of you may be thinking that the events and stuff were kind of weird, but...yeah. They were. I just wanted to mix a whole bunch of things together. **

**Oh geez I have to share this story...You don't need to read this if you don't want to...so when I was living in the Philippines (I was about ten/eleven at the time), our school had a sports festival (or whatever) and I signed up for swimming because my mom was a champion swimmer back in the day. I wore a bikini and I stuffed my bra with fabric from my blazer because the top was so thin...and on top of swimming really badly and coming in last, the fabric came out and was just floating around for everyone to see. I died. xD **


	11. Pace Yourself

**Hellooo and welcome back!**

**I tried making a cover for this. I failed miserably T_T **

* * *

><p><em>Recap:<em>

_"Natsu, I'm not going to let you sleep out in the streets where there are drunks and crazy people roaming around at night. Just...think of it as a way of protecting me. Just in case anyone decides to break in."_

_Natsu smiled. "Thank you, Lucy."_

* * *

><p>Lucy woke up on her fluffy white bed. She sat up and rubbed her head, not caring about her messy hair. She yawned as she got up and walked to the kitchen where she was going to make some breakfast.<p>

She froze when she stepped into the kitchen. Eggs were splattered on the wall, bread was scattered on the counter top, and milk was spilled on the floor. A blue cat was licking it up. In the middle of the wreckage stood Natsu, in only red pajama bottoms, with food on his face. He rubbed the back of his head as he gave Lucy a nervous laugh. "I tried to make us some breakfast, but…"

Lucy rubbed her eyes and continued staring. _It actually _happened?_ I actually let him stay with me? _She thought.

"Please don't get mad!" exclaimed Natsu as he grabbed a rag from under the sink. "I'll clean it up before we go to school, I swear!" He got down on his hands and knees and started to clean up the mess.

"I-It's fine. We should get breakfast on the way…Actually, now that I think about it, I don't think we should walk to school together…"

Natsu stopped cleaning to look up at Lucy. "Why?"

"Why? Imagine what people would think if they found out that you're here! Not to mention we'd get in trouble!"

Natsu looked down. "I guess you're right…No one knows that I was kicked out. It's only a matter of time, though…and I have to get my stuff after the race…"

"So what are you going to do?"

"I'll figure something out. You should go get ready."

Lucy nodded her head and went back upstairs. She slipped on the school's white tee-shirt and black running shorts. After putting her hair into a high ponytail, she went downstairs and was surprised to see that the kitchen looked spotless.

"That was fast…" mumbled Lucy as she looked around for Natsu. He wasn't around, but Happy was curled up on the couch.

"See you, Happy," whispered Lucy as she passed by the blue cat. She went out the door and made her way back to school. "That Natsu better not snoop in my stuff…"

When Lucy arrived at the gates, she saw many students, teachers, and parents scattered around. More than the other day.

"Lucy!" cried Levy as she jogged up in her white shirt that had the number thirty pinned to it. "I'm so glad that you're here! The race is about to start in about twenty minutes, so you better go sign in!"

Lucy followed Levy to the registry table where she was going to acquire her racing number. After pinning the number forty-five to her shirt Levy asked, "I wonder where Natsu is…"

_Probably busy wiping raw egg off his cheek, _Lucy thought as she looked over at the gate. _I really hope he'll get here soon…"_

Lucy turned her head back around when Gray walked up to the two girls. His number said nineteen.

"Natsu really isn't here yet?" he questioned. "I didn't see him when I was walking out this morning. That asshole better not have slept in."

"I-I'm sure he'll be here soon!" stammered Lucy.

Levy mumbled, "Speak of the devil…"

Looking back at the gate, Lucy saw Natsu sprinting towards them. "Don't start without me!" he cried.

"We haven't even started yet, flame brain," said Gray as he crossed his arms. "You better hurry and get your number. If Lucy is forty-five, that means that there are less than fifteen available spots."

"_Fifteen?_" Natsu pushed past the group and ran to the registry table.

"_Everyone!_" shouted Erza who was standing on the small stage. "The race will begin in ten minutes! I repeat! _Ten_ minutes! Get ready to run thirty-two kilometers!"

"_Thirty-two?"_ questioned Lucy. "Isn't that…twenty miles?"

"Yeah," said Gajeel, appearing behind the group wearing the number twenty-nine. "No sweat. Didn't you get the map?"

"Map? What map?"

Levy smiled. "I'll get you one! I'll be back in a sec!" The blue haired girl took off.

Natsu came back wearing the number sixty. "I got the last one!" he said proudly. He turned to Gajeel and Gray and started making up excuses when they asked why he was so late.

Lucy looked over at Juvia and Sophia. The two were standing away from the crowd and whispering things to each other. They had anxiety written on their faces. When Sophia looked up and made eye contact with Lucy, she quickly walked away and led Juvia to the starting line.

"Lucy…_Lucy!_" Levy's voice brought Lucy back to the group. "I got you a map!" She handed the blonde a rolled up piece of paper. After opening, Lucy examined the contents.

"We have to go through the market district, the woods, a really big neighborhood, the town square, and then back to school." Lucy could already feel her legs aching.

"It will be fine!" comforted Levy. "Just pace yourself. Besides, you're already a great runner. You'll probably win this thing for us! When I checked the scores a moment ago, I saw that we're behind the green team by ten points!"

"To the starting point!" said Erza. She tied her white sash around her head and yelled into the microphone, "Kick their asses, white team!"

Everyone in Gildart's class, but Lucy, threw their fist into the air and roared.

Everyone walked to the starting points and then lined up according to their numbers. Levy wished Natsu and Lucy good luck before heading to the middle of the large group with Gajeel. Gray made his way to the front.

Natsu put his hand on Lucy's shoulder and smiled. "Good luck, Luce."

Lucy gave him a nod before he made his way to the end of the line.

Coach Capricorn was holding the starting pistol. He aimed it up the air and said, "On your mark…get set…" The pistol was fired and the group set off.

"Pace your sexy bodies, students!" exclaimed Coach Taurus.

"_Go white team, go!_" Gildarts, with the help of a couple other students who didn't join the race, were holding up a large banner that read, "_Win this game or it's extra work for five months!_"

That was good motivation to get the white team moving.

In a blink of an eye, Natsu was already in front of Lucy. He turned around for a brief moment to give her a salute before passing other students. Lucy decided speed up as well. After a few minutes, she was already behind Levy.

"What happened to pacing yourself?" questioned Levy with a pout. "Gajeel took off sprinting once he saw that Natsu passed him. Typical."

"I'll just hang back here with you. With Natsu, Gray, and Gajeel on our side, we'll surely win."

With how slow they were running, the two were last. They were at the market place, and they could only see a few people in front of them. As they neared the woods, the watchers lessened until there was none to be seen. Lucy felt her phone vibrate in her pocket.

"U-Um…Levy?" The two slowed to a stop as Lucy pulled out her phone and saw that the call was from the mansion. "I need to take this so…I'll catch up with you later."

"No problem!"

Levy jogged off as Lucy walked over to a vending machine to buy some water. She dialed the mansion's number as her the machine was bringing her water to her. Holding her phone to her ear, Lucy grabbed the water and walked over to a bench.

"Lucy?" came Virgo's voice.

"Virgo! I'm so glad you called! I've been trying to get into contact with you, but…"

"I know…did the race start yet?"

"It started a while ago. I'm just taking a break."

"But what about winning?"

"I don't think that's possible anymore. There are boys in my class who are really athletic, and I'm sure they're close to the finish line by now. I've been in last with my friend."

"Well…at least you kept your friend company. You're a really good person, Lucy."

"Thanks. Not as good as you."

While there was a long silence, Lucy took big gulps of water.

"Hey," started Virgo. "You haven't let that guy in the house again, did you?"

Lucy choked on her water. After her coughing fit, Lucy regained composure and said, "I have no idea what you're talking about. What guy?"

"That Lyon guy!"

"N-No! He hasn't been in the house at all!"

"Are you lying to me?"

"No!"

"But you're keeping something from me…"

Lucy bit her lip. She rarely lied to Virgo because of how much it hurt. The maid sighed and said, "It's alright, Lucy. Sorry…it's just-I really miss you and I'm just use to having you all to myself. I keep forgetting that you're a beautiful grown woman. Everyone has secrets they don't want to share, even with the people that they love the most…anyways, I'll let you get back to your race. Call me later when you get home. I'll make sure I'll pick up, okay?"

"Alright Virgo. I love you."

"I love you too."

After Virgo hung up, Lucy took another gulp of her water.

She heard the sound of metal against her head before passing out.

Levy looked behind her and still saw no sign of Lucy. "Must be one important call," she said to herself. Looking down, she spotted a ring. Levy picked it up and realized that it was Loke's, and in front of her, she could barely make out his wild orange hair.

"Loke!" exclaimed Levy, jogging up the male. "You dropped this!" she handed him the ring. "Be careful next time!"

"Thanks, Levy. Wasn't Lucy with you?"

"Yeah, but she had to take a call. I would have thought that she would have caught up by now but I've seen no sign of her." Levy gasped. "What if she's _lost?_"

"Does she not have a map?"

"I gave her one…I don't know. Maybe I should go back-"

"It's alright, I'll get her. You finish the race."

"A-Are you sure?"

"Positive."

Levy smiled. "Thanks, Loke. You always act like you don't care about her, but you really do."

"Oh shut up and run."

Levy laughed as she continued forward while Loke went back.

Lucy slowly opened her eyes and was able to make out the blur of trees before squeezing them shut again due to pain. She was about to touch her head when she realized she couldn't move her arms. She tried to speak, but there was duct tape stuck to her mouth.

After the pain died down, Lucy was able to focus on what was going on. There were two men in black ski masks standing above her.

Lucy tried to scream as she wiggled onto her front and tried to use her knees to crawl away.

"Now that's what I like to see!" said one of the men. He straddled Lucy like a horse. "Giddy-up, bitch! Yo, get some pictures of this!"

The second man took out his smart phone and started to take pictures. Lucy collapsed and was being squished.

"Tired already?" The man who was sitting on Lucy got up. "We haven't even begun doing anything yet! Sit up!" He slapped Lucy from behind, causing her to let out a muffled cry. Tears went down her dirt streaked face. "Do you need me to spank your fat ass more? _Sit up!_"

As Lucy was slowly getting up, the man _tsked_ and grabbed hold on Lucy's blond hair. "Camera man, over here!"

The camera man moved in front of Lucy.

"These tits…" whispered the other man as he knelt down behind Lucy and look down from her shoulder. He let go of her hair and slowly moved both hands to the hem of her shirt.

Lucy sobbed.

"Let's get rid of this…" the man slowly pulled the shirt up until Lucy's white bra was exposed. Resting the fabric on top of her chest, the men laughed.

"This is awesome," said the camera man. "We could make a lot of money with this one!"

The man behind Lucy licked her neck. "You'll enjoy this…eventually," he whispered in her ear.

As the man was about to unclasp Lucy's bra, she brought her head forward and then back, hitting her attacker on the nose.

"_Gah!_" the man cried out.

Lucy started to stand on her feet.

"Reese!" The camera man was about to jump to his friend's rescue.

"No! Continue filming!" said Reese. He was holding his nose as blood poured out. "We're not fucking done yet!" He glared at Lucy's retreating figure. He jumped up and chased her down in no time at all.

Lucy was pinned to the floor, facing upwards as Reese straddled her. The blood from his nose dripped down and splattered all over Lucy's white skin and shirt.

"I'll finish what I was paid to do…" he growled, eyeing Lucy's covered breasts.

"_Like hell you will!_"

Lucy watched with wide eyes as Reese was kicked off her by Loke. The camera man dropped his phone and started backing away as Loke eyed him.

"_You assholes. I won't let you get away with this!"_ Loke grabbed the camera man, pinned him to a tree, and started to punch his face. The rings on his fingers left deep cuts on the man's cheek as it ripped the fabric of his mask.

Lucy was able to squirm her way out of her restraints, and then she ripped the tape off of her, ignoring the hot pain that came with it. From the corner of her eye Lucy noticed Reese getting up.

"Loke!" She exclaimed.

Loke released the camera man who fell to the ground and then went over to Reese.

Lucy noticed the intent to kill in Loke's eyes.

"Don't kill him, Loke!" Lucy shouted.

Loke stopped, which gave Reece enough time to run away. Loke was about to run after him when Lucy demanded him to stop.

"I can't just let him go!" Loke shouted. "He's getting away, Lucy!"

"Look at him!" Lucy yelled, pointing towards the camera man. He was unconscious, but he looked like he was dead with all the blood pouring out of his face. "You're already going to get in trouble for that! Let him go! The cops will quickly find him if we call them now!"

Loke growled and kicked a rock away from him. "Fine." He took out his phone and dialed the police. As they waited, Lucy found the chance to break down and cry.

She was violated. And if it wasn't for Loke, it would have went even further. Lucy hugged herself as she sobbed, and the memories of her abusive father flashed through her mind.

_They were about to do what dad does to Virgo_, she thought.

Loke looked down at her with saddened eyes. He knelt down and gathered the girl in his arms, and she gladly accepted him. She clutched his green shirt as her tears made water marks on it. Loke rubbed his hand on her back, whispering soothing words as he softly rocked Lucy back and forth.

_It's just like that one night, _Loke thought. He closed his eyes.

"_Do what you want with her," Karen said to a few gruff looking men. _

_Loke stared wide-eyed as these men took young Aries away. She looked at Loke with fear. The men dragged her out, and Loke was about to follow when Karen called him._

_Loke stood where he was with his hands clenched into tight fists, and continued to do so as Karen repeated his name._

_Finally fed up, Karen stomped over, grabbed Loke by his orange hair, and staring dragging him to her room. _

"_Looks like I still need to break you," she said with a smirk as she closed the door. "Don't worry about little Aries. Those men will take _good_ care of her, just like how I'll take good care of you. Now…off with your shirt."_

_Loke stood still as he glared up towards his mistress._

"_Loke! I said: _Take off your shirt! Now!_"_

_Young Loke went up to the fireplace and grabbed the poker. Karen froze._

"_Put that down…" she whispered. "You don't know what you're doing…"_

"You_ don't know what you're doing!" spat Loke. He swung at her head, and she was down instantly with blood pouring out of the wound._

_Loke dropped the poker and ran out the door. He quickly dialed the number to the police, hastily told them his location, and then ran out to the back where the shed was._

_But it wasn't for keeping the tools you would expect._

_Loke burst through the doors, causing the men to stop what they were doing. Aries was on the ground with her still developing chest exposed. One of the men were holding her legs up. Tears streamed down Aries's face._

"_Get the hell away from her," Loke growled. _

_One of the men laughed. "Go ahead and try to make us, little man. There's three of us and one of you."_

"_I wouldn't care if there were fifty of you. I will fight regardless."_

_The men stood up, ignoring the girl who backed into a corner. They advanced towards Loke._

"Hands above your heads! _Now!_" _Cried a woman from behind. Loke turned around to see four cops aiming their guns at the men. From the distance, Loke could see Karen being put into a police carriage._

_As the three men were led out of the shed, Loke ran in to get Aries. She was able to quickly put her shirt back on before sobbing. Loke held her close._

"_It's over now…" he whispered._

"Loke," sniffed Lucy. "They're here."

Loke helped Lucy stand as a few cops approached them. One woman and two males. The men went over to the camera man.

"I have men out looking for the other attacker right now," said the woman. She looked at Loke and smiled. "It's good to see you again. Not in this circumstance, though. I'm just glad you made it here on time."

"What the hell happened here?" questioned one of the policemen as he looked at the camera man.

"I got carried away," said Loke.

"I don't know how this will sit with the court, but…" started the woman. "My co-workers and I will stand up for you."

"What the hell…" said the other policeman as he bent down to pick up the smart phone.

_Reese said that he was paid,_ thought Lucy. She then recalled the warning Sophia gave her the other day, and the looks she gave before the race started.

"What the hell is going on here?" asked Makarov as he came into view. With him was the science teacher, Porlyusica, and Gildarts.

Porlyusica looked Lucy over. "She's fine. The blood on her isn't hers, but we should get her out of here and take her to the station."

The police woman nodded her head. "I'll call in to say that you guys are coming."

Lucy rode in a carriage with Loke and the teachers. Gildart's eyebrows were slanted in worry, but he didn't want to say anything in case he'd say the wrong thing.

"Do you know those men?" asked an interrogator.

"No," responded Lucy.

"Do you know people who would seek to hurt you?"

Lucy bit her lip. "No."

The interrogator tilted his head. "Tell me. I just want to help you, Lucy."

Lucy stayed quiet, trying to buy herself time.

There was a knock on the door and a man stepped through. "We've caught him," was all he said before leaving the room.

The interrogator led Lucy out into the hallway. In front of them were two men without masks. On the left, Lucy could easily recognize as the man holding the camera since his face was cut in different places. The other one made Lucy stepped back.

"Y-You!" she exclaimed. "The drunk!"

Reese smirked. "Yes, darling. I'm glad you've remembered after all this time."

"So you've met?" questioned the interrogator.

"I…bumped into him once," said Lucy softly.

"But why did he attack you?"

"Sir!" exclaimed Loke. There was a girl standing next to him, whom Lucy recognized as one of Sophia's posse members. "She has something important to say!"

The girl looked down in shame. When she looked back up she shouted, "He was hired by Sophia!"

_I knew it_, thought Lucy.

"Let's get her here, then," said the interrogator.

Lucy waited patiently outside with Loke. "What are they going to do about you?" she asked.

"They said that the council is going to take some time in deciding my punishment, but I know for a fact that Sophia will be expelled since they don't take stuff like this lightly. Something like that has severe consequences."

_Then why did she warn me?_ Thought Lucy.

A couple hours later, Sophia and the other girl's parents came to get them. They looked furious. They stopped in front of Lucy and bowed deeply, asking for forgiveness.

Before Sophia was gone from Lucy's life, her face twisted in guilt as she whispered, "I'm so sorry…"

When they were gone, Gildarts came out to see how the two teens were doing and was holding a black sweatshirt in his hands.

"As well as we can be," said Loke.

"Sophia's expelled. She confessed everything without hesitation, and we found out that her two little friends were in on it as well, but they are suspended."

"I thought as much."

Gildarts looked down at Lucy. "Hey…" he whispered, making her look up at him. "I don't know what kind of words to say to someone who just went through this kind of situation…but hang in there. You may have been here for only a short time, but you already have friends all around you who wouldn't hesitate to protect you. Plus, you're a strong woman who gave that son of a bitch a well-deserved broken nose. Oh, here's a sweatshirt by the way. With all the commotion, we forgot about…your shirt."

Lucy took the sweatshirt from him with a small smile. "Thank you, Mr. Clive."

After changing, Lucy got into a carriage and was taken home. She felt her pockets and sighed in relief. She still had her keys and cellphone, but the map was gone.

Once she stepped out of the carriage, she saw Natsu sitting on the steps, waiting.

_That's right…_ she thought. _He doesn't have a key…has he really been waiting all this time?_

Upon seeing Lucy, Natsu quickly stood up. Once the carriage rolled away, Natsu walked up and pulled Lucy into a hug.

"_I'm so sorry, Luce!" _he choked. "I was busy thinking about how much I wanted to win that I left you behind!"

"No, Natsu…" Lucy pulled away from him. "It's not your fault. Neither of us knew that this was going to happen. I wanted to stay behind."

"_I'm going to kill those bastards…_" his angry expression turned into worry when he looked into Lucy's brown eyes. "Did they…"

"No. Loke got there in time."

Natsu continued to examine her face. "Are you sure you're okay?"

_I'm not okay._

"I'm fine…Let's hurry inside before someone spots us. At least my key managed to stay in my pocket, or else we'd be locked out."

"There's no need. It's open already."

Lucy froze. "_You didn't lock the door?_"

"I did! I just managed to come in through my window."

Lucy sighed and headed inside. She started to head upstairs when Natsu said, "I'll make some dinner!"

In her room, Lucy locked the door, turned off the lights, and crawled into bed without taking her shoes off.

She sobbed into her pillow. She put on a straight face for everyone except for Loke, and she almost couldn't contain herself any longer.

Lucy thought of killing herself.

_My mom died, my dad's abusive and is raping a woman who I consider as another mother, I was kicked out, and people from school hired a drunk to rape me. Could my life get any more fantastic?_

Lucy's phone started vibrating in her pocket. It was from the mansion. Lucy pulled the covers over her head before picking up.

"Hello?"

"Lucy!" cried Virgo. "Thank goodness you're okay! I...I heard the news…"

"I'm fine Virgo, really."

"You don't sound fine to me."

Lucy gave up and cried out. "I was humiliated and was put on camera! I thought I was going to be raped!" Lucy kept crying as Virgo silently listened. She knew exactly how Lucy felt better than anyone.

"Virgo…" sniffed Lucy. "I don't want to live anymore…"

"No, Lucy. Please, please don't say that…"

"Is this how you feel?"

Virgo sighed heavily. "Every day."

"Virgo!" yelled Jude in the background. "That's enough! You've gone over the limit today!"

"But-" started the maid.

"Don't talk back at me! Her problems are not ours anymore! Hang up, or I will!"

Lucy bit her knuckled to keeps from screaming.

"Lucy, I have to go now," came Virgo hastily.

"I love-"

Virgo hung up and left Lucy with nothing to hear but the sound of nothing.

After an hour, Natsu called Lucy down to eat. She turned on the lights and looked at herself in the mirror. She didn't know who she was. She looked like a complete wreck. Lucy tried her best to look at least a bit presentable for Natsu's sake.

Lucy could smell the burnt food as she walked down the stairs.

_I should have known better after what I saw this morning._

Natsu set down a plate at the table and smiled. "I cooked spaghetti!"

The noodles looked over cooked beyond belief, and the cold sauce was splattered on top. The garlic bread that Natsu put on a separate plate was charred all around.

Lucy sighed.

"I'm a terrible cook, I know," said the pink-haired male. "But you can't hate it until you try it!"

"Natsu, I'm not eating that, and neither will you. I'll teach you how to make spaghetti if we even have any ingredients left."

Natsu looked over Lucy's shoulder as she poured the hard noodles into the boiling water.

"Hey," started Natsu as he watched Lucy heat up the tomato sauce. "I'm going to tell you something about me, okay?"

Lucy glanced at him before looking back and stirred the sauce.

"The reason why I wear this scarf all the time…I never knew my mother. I don't even know her name or what she looks like. My dad left her after discovering that she was pregnant, and then a year later, she died of a heart attack. I had no family to be passed on to, so I was adopted. My adoptive father loved me, and I loved him. I called him Igneel. When I was around five years old, a man broke into the house and came up to my room where I was sleeping soundly. The man took his knife and held it to my throat, waking me up. My dad came in with a gun and shot she intruder in the stomach, which caused him to deepen the cut on my throat. When my dad came to see if I was okay, the man pulled him down and stabbed him five times in the chest. I screamed. The police arrived, and the intruder was gone, leaving me with my dad's corpse."

"Wh-what happened to the attacker? Did the police catch him?"

"No. And I never got a good look at his face. That man is still out there…"

Lucy's brow's knitted together in concern as she looked at Natsu's white scarf. "May I?" she asked.

Natsu nodded his head and pulled his scarf down. Lucy could see the pale mark that has stretched throughout the years, but it was still noticeable.

"The food," said Natsu.

Lucy blinked a couple times before focusing back on her task. When she was done cooking and the bad food was thrown up, Lucy set the table.

"This is amazing!" exclaimed Natsu, sitting down.

Lucy took a seat across from him. "It's just spaghetti. Plus you work at an Italian restaurant."

"I know, but…I haven't had a good home-cooked meal in years. Thank you."

Lucy watched as Natsu gobbled down the food. She focused in on the scarf and said, "Now that you've shown me, you don't need to wear the scarf all the time when you're here. I'm sure it gets really hot.

Natsu smiled. His face was smeared with tomato sauce. "Thank you, Luce. Aren't you going to eat?"

Lucy looked down at her food and realized she didn't have an appetite the entire time she was home. She shook her head.

_He told me that story…_ Lucy thought. _He went through something traumatic, and here he is, smearing his face with sauce with that goofy smile of his. I don't understand…_

"Natsu, I…" Lucy started. "I want to tell you something about me as well."

Natsu wiped some sauce off of his face with a paper towel and said, "You don't have to, Luce. It's alright. Just go at your own pace."

"But I want to." Lucy breathed in, not sure if she could tell him the whole entire story. "You see that picture over there?" She pointed to the one with her and Virgo in it.

Natsu looked at it and then looked back at Lucy. "Yeah…is she…your mom?"

"Sort of…my mom also passed when I was young. Car crash. Everything…_changed_ after that. Virgo, the maid, took care of me like I was her own daughter. My dad…My dad…" A tear rolled down Lucy's cheek.

"Don't force yourself, Luce. It's alright. Thank you for telling me at least this much." Natsu smiled as he stared at his companion's face. "You know…since I've known you, I've been trying to get you to smile. You smile for everyone else…"

"What do you mean?"

Natsu shook his head. "It's nothing. I'll clean up, okay? You take a bath and get to bed."

Lucy got up with Natsu. As they walked past each other, Lucy stopped and turned around. "Ne…Natsu?"

Natsu faced her. "Yeah?"

The corners of Lucy's mouth pulled into a genuine smile. "Thank you for listening."

* * *

><p><strong>That...was A LOT longer than I though it would be O.O <strong>

**Anyways...**

**Holy hell so many followers :O Awesome! I'm so glad lots of you are into this story! **

**Fav...Follow...Reviews are nice too :D**

**~Bl00dyshad0w**


	12. Let Me Take Care of You

_Recap:_

_Lucy got up with Natsu. As they walked past each other, Lucy stopped and turned around. "Ne…Natsu?"_

_Natsu faced her. "Yeah?"_

_The corners of Lucy's mouth pulled into a genuine smile. "Thank you for listening."_

* * *

><p>A couple weeks have passed.<p>

At school, the news of the events at the race grew like wildfire and even appeared on television, though Lucy's name was disclosed. Her friends didn't bring it up, and Lucy was thankful for that.

Natsu tried his best to be discreet about where he lived, but Gray was slowly catching on. The excuse that Natsu came up with was that he was busy with work, but when Gray came to see him one day, Bisca said that he hasn't been scheduled to work for a while.

During a weekend evening, Lucy stared out her bedroom window. She watched as the rain poured down from the darkened clouds.

There was a loud knock on her door.

"Luce?" questioned Natsu. "Is Happy in your room by any chance?"

Lucy got out of her bed and quickly pulled her white sweater over her dark tank top. She opened the door and was taken aback by Natsu's panicked face. "No…what's wrong?"

"Damn it!" Natsu cursed. "I can't find him anywhere!"

"Calm down," said Lucy as she stepped out. "I'm sure he's here somewhere. Maybe he's sleeping behind the toilet again."

"I've checked there. Twice."

"Where else could he go?"

"I don't know…can you help me find him?"

Lucy helped Natsu search downstairs. She checked underneath the couch, behind the television, and under the sink. When she straightened herself and sighed, she realized that there was a cool breeze in the room. In front of her, the kitchen window was opened a bit.

"Oh no…" she whispered as she looked out the window. She closed it and then went to go find Natsu.

"Did you find something?" Natsu asked as he finished checking behind the curtains.

"I don't think Happy is in the house anymore. The kitchen window was open."

"Dammit!"

Natsu ran to the front door, slipped on a jacket and a pair of sneakers, and then ran out.

"Wait!" Lucy cried. "It's pouring out there!"

Natsu didn't listen and kept going, leaving the front door open. Lucy grunted. "That idiot!" she cried before following after him. She got on her shoes and grabbed a red umbrella before running out, shutting the door behind her. "Wait up!" she called. The wind picked up, and Lucy's umbrella was forced out of her hand. In a second, she was soaked. She chased her umbrella to the edge of the canal, and was able to grab it before it landed in the water.

When she straightened herself, she considered going back home.

_Natsu will probably find him,_ Lucy thought. She looked back and forth between her house and the area where Natsu ran off. Grunting, she went to go find her pink-haired friend.

"Where did he go?" she asked herself as she tried to see past the haze. She went forward, hoping to catch sight of him and his white scarf.

_It's getting kind of cold_, Lucy thought as she rounded another corner. _Maybe I should go home. Natsu has probably already found Happy and is worried about me._

Lucy turned around. _Wait…Where am I? Dammit, I forgot my phone! _ Lucy grunted and made her way underneath a solid platform where she leaned against the brick wall.

"_Meow!_"

Lucy shook her head. "I'm already hearing things."

"_Meow!_"

Lucy walked over to a dumpster where she thought she heard the sound. She waited for another meow, but none came. She went around the dumpster and jumped back.

"H-Happy?" Lucy cried.

The blue cat was cuddling with a white cat, and the two were wet and shivering. They stared at Lucy.

"Happy!" came Natsu's voice from a distance.

Lucy straightened up and called, "Natsu! I found him!"

"Lucy?"

After a few moments of searching, Natsu found Lucy and jogged up to her. His usually spiky hair now stuck to his face. "Where?" he asked. "Where's Happy?"

Lucy pointed towards the two cats.

Natsu blinked. "Oh…Is this your girlfriend?"

Happy meowed.

"Natsu," started Lucy. "They're freezing. We have to get them out of here."

"But what about the other cat?"

"Carla! _Carla!_" came the voice of a young girl. She spotted Natsu and Lucy and stopped.

"What is it, Wendy?" A boy around Wendy's age appeared with a white umbrella. He turned his head in the girl's direction.

"U-Um," started Lucy. "Is this your cat?" Lucy gestured towards the two cats, and Wendy's eyes lit up.

"Carla!" she exclaimed as she rushed over. "You're okay! I was so worried!"

"You two shouldn't be out here by yourselves," started Natsu. "Especially while it's raining!"

"And what's your excuse?" questioned the boy who crossed his arms.

"And what's your name?"

"Romeo."

"Romeo? As in Macao's son?"

"This is no time for talking!" said Lucy. "These cats need to get indoors!"

"She's right," said Wendy. She knelt down in front of her cat and said, "It's time to go, Carla. You can see your friend some other time."

Carla got up and climbed into Wendy's arms. The young girl stood up and turned to Natsu and Lucy. "Thank you so much for finding her," she said with a smile before walking off with Romeo.

"Come on, Happy," said Natsu. The blue cat jumped on his owner's shoulder.

"H-H-Here," Lucy said, holding the red umbrella towards Natsu.

He looked at her worriedly. "Lucy, you're cold!"

"I'll be fine. We just need to get Happy home."

Natsu handed Lucy his cat and said, "You keep the umbrella. I'll be fine. I'd give you my jacket, but it's wet."

"Natsu…"

"Come on, what are we waiting for?"

The two walked side by side as Happy pressed himself against Lucy's neck, seeking warmth. When Lucy glanced over at Natsu, she felt guilty that she was hogging the umbrella, and slowly inched closer to her companion.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

Lucy blushed. "I-I don't want you to get pelted with rain the whole entire way home! Just…get the hell over here."

Natsu smiled and stepped to the side until their shoulders were touching.

They walked home together underneath the protection of the red umbrella.

The next morning, Lucy got up early to make breakfast before her and Natsu went to school. She cooked up two omelets and then called Natsu down.

As Lucy waited at the table, she realized that something was wrong. Natsu would usually already be downstairs once he smelled food. Lucy climbed up the stairs and walked to Natsu's bedroom door. She knocked twice.

"Natsu?" she called. "You there?"

"Y-Yeah…Sorry, I'm not going to have breakfast today. I'll see you at school later."

Lucy's eyebrows knitted together. "Natsu, what's wrong? You sound funny…"

"It's nothing. I don't want you to be late, so you should probably hurry before Gildarts gets mad."

"I'm coming in."

"No, don't-"

Lucy entered the room and looked around. Clothes scattered the floor, causing Lucy to sigh. When she looked over at the bed, she saw Natsu sitting up and looking at her. He looked pale and sickly.

"You're sick?" questioned Lucy as she stepped forward.

"Stop right there!" Exclaimed Natsu as he held his hand out. "I don't want you to catch my cold!" He coughed hoarsely and then fell back on his bed. "My head is killing me," he mumbled.

"Hold on, I'll go get some warm water."

"What about school?"

Lucy looked at him from the doorway. "I'll just skip today. Don't worry about it."

"But don't you think our classmates will think something's up?"

"They'll probably think that it's a coincidence! I mean, they haven't caught us yet."

Natsu was about to object some more but was silenced when Lucy shut his door. Downstairs, Lucy fed Happy and then grabbed a bowl to fill with warm water.

"It's because he ran out like that last night," she mumbled as she turned the water off. The steam warmed her face and she grabbed a rag to put on Natsu's forehead. Lucy blushed and thought, _It's like we're a couple…_

Lucy looked down when she noticed Happy staring at her, and she could have sworn he looked smug.

Lucy went upstairs with the bowl in her hands and the rag draped over her shoulder. She carefully opened Natsu's door and stepped inside. She set the bowl down and dipped the rag into the warm water, rung it, and then placed it on Natsu's head.

Natsu grinned.

"What?" questioned Lucy as she tilted her head.

"This is the first time that someone has taken care of me while I was sick."

Lucy quickly turned away before Natsu could see how red she's become. "I-I'll go get you some water to drink, okay? Just rest. I'll check up on you soon." She got up and quickly went back to the kitchen.

"This is insane," thought Lucy out loud as she poured water into a jug. She brought it up with a small glass and saw that Natsu was asleep.

After school, Levy grabbed Lucy's homework and called her but she didn't answer. "I have no idea where she lives," she said to Gajeel with a pout.

"What if you follow the path that she comes to school on?"

"Oh! Good idea! I'll see you after work, okay?"

Gajeel waved his hand before walking away. Levy followed the path, determined to find where her friend lived.

"Wait," she started as she stared at a bench. "This is where I saw Lucy and Lyon that one time…she _must_ live here somewhere!"

"Excuse me?" asked an old woman standing behind Levy.

Levy turned around and looked down. "Yes?"

"Are you looking for the young boy with the pink hair and the white scarf?

Levy paused. "You mean…Natsu? What is he doing here?"

"Are you here to give him his work? I didn't see him leave his house so I assumed he would be absent. He reminds me of my first husband…But anyways, shall I point the way?"

Levy laughed nervously. "B-But Natsu lives at the student apartments…"

"What? I've seen him coming and going from his house for the past few weeks."

"Which house are you talking about?"

Levy followed the old woman to a large home, and Levy looked up and laughed. "Natsu couldn't possibly be living here! I mean, he lives at the student apartments with Gray and Gajeel!"

"Wouldn't hurt to ring the doorbell."

The old woman left Levy standing at the front of the house. The blue-hair girl hesitantly raised her hand up and rang the doorbell.

After a few moments, Levy was about to turn around when the door swung open. "Yes?"

The two stared at each other wide-eyes.

"_Lucy?_" exclaimed Levy. "Th-This is _your_ house?"

"Yeah…um, how did you find me?"

"There was an old woman who told me that Natsu lives here…"

There was a long silence between them as Levy processed what was going on. Her jaw dropped. "Wait a minute. Is Natsu living _here_?"

"U-Um-"

"What happened? Why is Natsu not at the apartments?"

Lucy sighed, giving up. She made room for Levy to come in and closed the door behind her.

"He got kicked out some weeks ago."

"Did the landlady find Happy?"

"Yeah, and he had nowhere else to stay."

"So why were _both _of you absent today?"

"Natsu caught a cold and I'm taking care of him."

"I'll help! If…that's okay."

"Yeah that's fine, I guess. Is that my homework?"

Levy set the papers on top of the coffee table when the two entered the living room. She gasped. "Gray was sent to bring Natsu's paperwork! He's going to find out as well!"

"Well…we saw this coming. We knew that it was only a matter of time."

Levy smirked. "What have you guys been up to? It's a big house with no adults around…"

"Levy!" Lucy playfully slapped her friend's arm as Happy came into view. Levy bent down to pet the blue cat. "I'll show you to Natsu's room," said Lucy as she led Levy upstairs.

"Come in," said Natsu once he heard the two knocks on his door. He woke up after hearing the sound of the doorbell.

"Natsu-" started Lucy as she came in.

"Who was at the door?"

"Me!"

Natsu's head snapped towards the door-frame where he saw Levy. He groaned in pain and mumbled, "I moved my head too fast."

Back at the student apartments, Gray knocked on Natsu's door. "Oi, flame-brain! I got your homework! I know you're not at work, so open up!"

The lock clicked and the door swung open. In front of Gray was a large man wearing a yellow construction hat.

"U-Um…Is Natsu there?" questioned Gray.

The large man scratched his large stomach as he said, "That pink headed kid? He was kicked out of here weeks ago and left us a mess to clean up. I don't know where he is now, so don't ask." The man shut the door and re-locked it.

"Kicked out?" repeated Gray.

Gray walked away from the building and paced back and forth. Through his mind came and went the possible people that Natsu could be staying with. "Where the hell is that idiot?"

"Hey, Gray?"

Gray looked up and greeted Lisanna. She smiled and asked, "Have you seen Natsu? He told me that he would help me practice basketball today."

"Actually, I have no idea where he is."

"He's not at the apartments?"

"No…and he hasn't been there for weeks, which explains a lot."

Lisanna's brows knitted together in confusion. "What do you mean by that?"

"I'm guessing the landlady found out about Happy and kicked him out and he has kept that a secret from everyone."

As the two continued talking, Makarov stayed behind a large oak tree and listened in.

"Oh, shit!" said Natsu after looking at the time. "I need to get to work!" He was about to get up when Levy pushed him back down.

"Oh no you don't!" she said. "You're not going to be serving food with a runny nose! You're staying in bed!"

"Bisca might fire me if I don't show up!"

"In that case, I'll take your shift!" exclaimed Lucy.

Levy and Natsu looked at her. "What?" they both said.

"Well…I know I don't work there, but if I explain the situation to her, she might let me."

"You don't need to do that, Luce," started Natsu. "You've helped me so much already."

"You can't stop me. Besides, I want to try it out."

Natsu sighed. "Levy, how long are you staying?"

Levy looked at her watch. "Until curfew, which means I'll probably leave before Lucy comes back."

"That's fine," said Lucy as she started walking off. "But you owe me big time, Natsu!"

"You want to _what_?" questioned Katelyn. "I don't think the boss would allow that!"

"Well I could at least try!" responded Lucy.

Bisca walked up once she saw Lucy. She smiled and said, "I remember you! You're Natsu's friend! And speaking of Natsu, where the hell is he? His shift is about to start, and I won't be happy if he's late again."

"About that…Natsu is really sick, and I told him I would try to take his shift. If that's okay with you, I mean."

Bisca looked Lucy up and down before responding, "Alright. Katelyn? Please get Lucy a uniform."

"Y-Yes, mam. Right away…" The waitress showed Lucy to the back where the shirts were. "Lucky for you, you're wearing black pants, but you're not wearing the proper shoes. Try not to slip. Have you ever done this before?"

"No, but I'd imagine it has to do with a lot of short hand."

"Just make sure the cook understands what you put down. You'll catch on fast. Besides, tonight isn't busy so I think you'll be fine."

Lucy nodded her head and quickly changed into the restaurant's maroon colored shirt. When she stepped out, Bisca came up to her and pointed to a table. "You can take that one," she said.

Lucy approached the two people sitting at the table and was about to ask if they wanted anything to drink when she lost her words.

Lyon and Sherry looked back at her.

"Lucy?" questioned Sherry. "I didn't know you worked here."

"I-I'm taking over a shift for my friend who's sick. Are you two…on a date?"

Sherry looked at Lyon and the two smiled at each other, but Lucy could tell that Lyon wasn't as happy with the way his eyes didn't wrinkle. "We're dating," said the pink-haired woman. "Finally."

The two had their orders taken, and stayed one of the only ones in the restaurant. Lucy would glance at them from time to time.

"What's up?" asked Katelyn who was carrying a pitcher of water.

"It's nothing. I'm just…concerned for a friend."

Bisca invited Lucy to eat with her and her family, but Lucy refused, saying that she needed to get home. The manager smiled and brought food in a container for Lucy to take home. "You didn't have a lot of customers," she started, "but you did an excellent job today. Thank you. Natsu totally owes you."

Lucy nodded her head and went back home. Upon entering, she found Natsu waiting for her in the living room.

"What the hell are you doing out of bed?" she exclaimed as she set the food down.

"I was waiting."

"_Why?_"

"I wanted to be sure that you got home safely…"

Lucy's eyes softened. She told Natsu how work was and then ushered him to bed where he immediately fell asleep.

"You must have been fighting to stay awake," whispered Lucy as she stared down at Natsu's sleeping face. Happy jumped on his bed and curled into a ball. Lucy tucked her blonde hair behind her ear before bending down to kiss Natsu's cheek.

"Good night," she said with a smile.

* * *

><p><strong>Yup. It's time for me to go to bed too *Dies on keyboard*<strong>


End file.
